A Train Will Lead the Way
by darnchts
Summary: Lee and Amanda are sent on an adventure to solve the murder of someone they love dearly. The whole time, they are left wondering if the clues are leading to the murderer or to a trap. This story is completed and posted. It originally was published in the 35th Anniversary Fanzine. I hope you like it.
1. Chapter 1 - The Journey Begins

**Disclaimer – None of the original characters belong to me. They remain the property of Shoot the Moon Enterprises and Warner Brothers. The new characters that I introduce are mine. I mean no infringement on copyrights. I will be forever grateful that this wonderful show exists and we can continue their adventures through fanfiction.**

 _Originally published in the 35_ _th_ _Anniversary Fanzine – Secret in Shadows - 2018_

 **Chapter One – The Journey Begins**

The train continued its journey through the long night. Almost everyone was asleep as it had been a long, tiring trip. The train had a malfunction less than twenty miles out of DC, which caused the trip to be delayed by almost three hours. The cabin was hot and most of the passengers had vacation plans that were being interrupted. By the time the train was finally on the way again, most of the people had lost their patience and had become angry.

The man and woman, who sat together in the back, seemed worried and upset, but not angry. They were both eager to reach their destination too. However in their line of work, they knew things happen. A few hours delay would likely not make much of a difference at this point. They were relieved when the engineer came inside to let them know that the engine had been fixed and they were to be on their way immediately. The two of them sat very close together, but not intimately. They seemed to draw strength from the comfort of just touching. They hadn't said much from the time they boarded but their faces showed signs of sadness like they both had endured a tragedy recently. They had chosen a seat in the back so they could be alone.

As the train continued its long journey in the dark, the woman found herself growing sleepy. She finally gave in and laid her head on the man's chest. He put his arm around her in a protective manner while drawing her a little closer so she would be more comfortable in her sleep. He then stared out the window as the train wound through the country side. He knew that a good agent functioned better with sleep, but he found himself wide awake. The last couple of months had been horrific and unbelievable. The people they worked with had been devastated by the news. Everyone kept hoping that it had all been a bad dream that they would soon wake up from. Since it really did happen though, Lee couldn't help but wish that he could go back in time and prevent it from happening in the first place. He would have given anything, including his own life, to save Billy Melrose the night he was murdered.

 **TBC**


	2. Chapter 2 - What's Wrong With Billy?

**Chapter Two - What's Wrong With Billy?**

. _Two months earlier_

"Lee! Where is that file I asked for?" Billy gruffly demanded.

"It's right here Sir," Amanda answered while rushing to stand up and hand it to her boss.

"Thank you Mrs. King. I see you are doing his work for him again," Billy said in a scolding tone.

"For your information Billy, we worked on that file together. It just happened to be still on Amanda's desk," Lee retorted back. "What is going on with you? You haven't been yourself for a few days now."

"What are you talking about?" Billy barked. "There is nothing wrong with me."

"Billy! Something isn't right. Lately, you have been short tempered more than normal. You walk around like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Something seems to be bothering you, so spill it!" Lee demanded.

"That is none of your business. I think people forget that I'm still the boss around here. Speaking of which, did you finish the file on the Cote case?" Billy asked.

"We are working on it Sir. We should have it soon, "Amanda volunteered while trying to calm the two men down.

"Well, see that you have it on my desk before you leave tonight," Billy demanded as he turned to leave.

Lee slammed the pad of paper he had is his hand down on the desk and then stood up. He walked over to Amanda as he swiped his hand through his hair in frustration. "What is wrong with him?" he asked while not really expecting an answer. "He's not acting like the Billy Melrose I know at all."

"Oh Lee, you know, maybe he and Jeannie are going through something. It must be tough for him to have such a stressful job while having a family at home too," Amanda explained while trying to find a reason for Billy's behavior.

"Amanda, you amaze me. I don't know anyone who can sit there after being yelled at by their boss and still find reasons not to be mad at him. You are something else."

"Well you said it yourself; this is not the Billy we know. Hopefully whatever is wrong will sort itself out soon with time. Maybe you should invite him out to dinner to see if he will open up to you privately," Amanda suggested.

"Well right now, I just want to get through this file so I can take you out to dinner," Lee said while hoping she would agree.

"Oh Lee, that is thoughtful, but I already promised the boys we would make popcorn and watch a movie tonight. Can I take a rain check?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, of course. I should have realized you had family plans. Look, why don't you head for home, and I'll finish the file," Lee suggested.

"Are you sure?" Amanda asked with uncertainty.

"Yeah, I don't have any other plans. It won't take long to finish this up. Go ahead. I'll see you tomorrow," Lee said.

"Okay, thanks Lee. Don't stay too late," Amanda said as she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

Lee sadly watched her go. Lately, he was finding it harder and harder to watch her walk away from him. He found that work was so much more enjoyable when she was around. She made him laugh and he found himself focusing better. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he had tried to convince her to leave the agency. He was so glad that she hadn't listened to him. Actually most of the time, he found himself glad that she didn't listen to him. Lee chuckled at his own thoughts.

Lee took the folder back to his desk and settled down to finish it. In less than an hour, he had completed all that was missing. True to form, Amanda had already done most of the work.

After locking up the Q Bureau, Lee carried the file downstairs. Mrs. Marsten had gone home several hours ago and it left the lobby eerily quiet. Lee took the elevator downstairs and walked to the Bullpen. There were a few agents still working, but most had gone home. Lee was surprised to see that Billy's light was still on. He knocked on the door and waited for the answer that didn't come. He knocked again. Still not hearing a response from within, he slowly opened the door. "Billy, are you in here?" he asked as he opened the door more fully to peer inside. It looked like Billy had left in a hurry. His desk was a mess, he had left his coffee cup still half full on the edge of his desk and there were confidential files sitting in plain sight. As Lee's eyes darted around looking for possible clues, he saw that the drawer where Billy kept his gun was open. Lee noticed that the gun was also missing. What was going on? This was not like Billy Melrose at all.

Lee raced out of Billy's office and saw that Francine was working late.

"Francine? Where is Billy?" Lee asked while trying to calm himself down.

"I think he went home," Francine answered. "Why? Lee, you look like you have seen a ghost. Are you okay?"

"Do you think Billy has been acting strangely?" Lee asked instead of responding to her question.

"No, not really. Well I did notice that he walked in yesterday wearing one blue dress shoe and one black dress shoe. He told me that he had gone to the gym early that morning and didn't want to wake Jeannie. He accidentally grabbed the wrong shoes. That's not really like him, but it could happen to anyone, I guess," Francine explained.

Lee stared at Francine for a minute absorbing this piece of information that he hadn't heard about until now. "What I mean is has he been talking to you like he normally does? Lately he seems more short-tempered than normal. Are the head honchos giving him grief about something?"

"Well you know he is always barking at me, so I haven't really noticed any difference. Did he yell at Amanda and it upset you?" Francine asked sarcastically with a grin.

"Francine! He also left his office door unlocked with the light on. There are confidential folders open and not secured. Plus his gun drawer is open and his gun is gone," Lee continued.

"Are you sure? That _is_ unlike him. He didn't say anything to me about going on a case tonight," Francine responded with growing concern in her voice. Hey Carter? Is Billy on a case?" Francine yelled over to one of the agents who kept track of assignments.

"Nothing that I'm aware of," Carter answered.

"Should we go look for him?" Francine asked Lee.

"No, we wouldn't know where to go look. It's probably just my imagination working overtime," Lee suggested.

"I don't know Lee," Francine said hesitantly.

"No, really. Look, get out of here. I'm heading out myself. Can I drop you anywhere?" Lee offered.

"No, I've got my car. Yeah, I guess you are right that there isn't any sense in staying. I wouldn't be able to concentrate on work now anyway," Francine agreed as she reached for her purse.

Lee walked her out to her car. After making sure she was on her way, he walked to his car. On the drive home, he replayed in his mind the past few days. Billy's temper seemed to be on a shorter fuse every day. He hadn't noticed that his shoes were different colors, but he had noticed lately that his ties didn't match his suit. That was uncharacteristic of Billy also. He would have to talk to Amanda about it more in the morning. She usually had good insights into these things. Maybe she would have an explanation once she learned of these new developments. This definitely seemed to be more than just something going on at home to him.

Lee reached his apartment building. After parking the car, he headed inside. He was happy when he finally arrived at his apartment door and let himself in. It was good to be home. He went to the kitchen and took out the leftover pizza box from last night's dinner. After polishing off the last three slices, he poured a glass of scotch. He downed it in one gulp and then poured another. He carried this one into the living room. After turning on the tv, he flipped through the channels until he found the only basketball game that was being aired. The two teams that were battling it out were not the ones that he normally cheered for, but he always enjoyed a good game no matter who was playing. He sat down with his glass of scotch to relax.

Suddenly the game was interrupted for a special news bulletin. The view on Lee's screen showed police cars everywhere. He saw the familiar yellow tape stating "Crime Scene, Do Not Cross" flash across his screen. The cameraman was trying to zoom in on the action the best he could from behind the yellow tape while the reporter described the scene. "Tragedy has struck the DC area tonight. It looks like it might have been a drug deal that went bad. The unidentified man was shot several times in the chest. The police are now trying to establish his identity. In the meantime, the person or persons responsible were able to escape before the police arrived. If you or anyone you know has information about this homicide, please contact the police department immediately."

As Lee sat watching, the cameraman zoomed onto the dead man's face just before they covered it with a sheet. Lee's whole body went numb as he watched them load Billy Melrose into the ambulance.

 **TBC**


	3. Chapter 3 - Come Without Question

**Chapter Three – Come Without Question**

The cabin lit up as the train began going through a city that Lee couldn't identify. He rarely ever traveled by train since it took so long. This trip would be 26 long hours before they reached their destination. This one time, he didn't have a choice though. His hands grasped the creased card in his pocket. He pulled it out to look at it again for what seemed like to be the millionth time.

"Take the train to Wisconsin Dells. When you get off the train, you will see a phone booth. The phone will ring in two days at 9am. Further instructions will be in the phone call. Tell no one where you are going except Amanda. She must come with you.

Zulu Blue"

The note had been typed on an index card and wasn't signed. Lee had no idea who would have sent it. He was thankful that whoever it was, had told him to bring Amanda. He hated having her face this new unknown danger, but he would do everything in his power to protect her. As that thought entered his mind, he put his arm a little tighter around her shoulder.

The days following Billy's murder had been a whirlwind. Lee had rushed to the scene that night only to be met by Washington's finest telling him to go home. He showed them his badge, but they told him that he had no jurisdiction for the case. They forced him into his car and waited for him to leave. He raced to the agency where the word was just reaching the agents there. He dialed Francine's number and woke her up. As the realization hit, she began to cry. "That's not possible Lee. You must be mistaken. I mean how could that cameraman possibly have gotten a good view of his face?" Francine begged Lee to say he might be wrong.

"I'm sorry Francine. It was definitely him," Lee said as he fought back the tears.

"I'll be there soon," Francine said as she hung up the phone.

Lee thought about calling Amanda, but he knew it would be hard for her to explain to her family why she was leaving in the middle of the night. It was nearly 11pm, and her whole family would be in bed. He was thankful that she would get some sleep before she heard the news. Billy had been the one who had seen such promise in Amanda when the rest of them saw a housewife who wanted to live out her spy fantasies at the agency. Billy had enjoyed teasing Lee every chance he got when he first paired the two of them together. Lee fought him every step of the way too. Billy put up with Lee's foul attitude towards Amanda while cheering her on for not giving up on him.

Lee might have continued trying to push Amanda away, but everything changed the day some bad guys kidnapped her. In attempting to escape, she crashed a stolen car which caused her to suffer a head trauma. When she awoke in the hospital, it was discovered that she had partial amnesia. She didn't remember the agency or any of the people she had been working with during the past few months. She didn't even remember Lee. Lee was determined to help her remember. He had grown accustomed to having her by his side. He found to his amazement that he did enjoy her there most times. Oh sure, she frustrated him, and she was still very inexperienced in those days. Somehow though, she always seemed to do the right thing. Many times she had saved his life. Actually more times than he was willing to acknowledge back then. When Billy saw Amanda after the accident, he realized that she had lost the spark that had first caught his eye. Billy had suggested that they might have to terminate her employment with the agency. Lee didn't hesitate in suggesting that maybe they could retrain her. He heard Billy chuckle as Lee explained that he could adapt to anything. Even he knew that it sounded like a lame excuse since he had spent weeks trying to convince Billy that she was never going to be a suitable partner. Billy Melrose had known exactly what he was doing when he teamed them up.

Since Lee didn't have a father of his own, Billy had filled those shoes for many years. He had always been someone Lee could go to in order to get advice and he had always been supportive. How could he be dead? Why would anyone kill Billy? What had he been involved in that led him to that bad section of town when he should have been home with his family?

"Damn it!" Lee exclaimed as he hit the desk in front of him in frustration as questions and no answers kept swirling in his head. Several heads popped up to see what was going on but quickly went back to work when they realized that it was just Scarecrow letting off steam.

Francine hurried into the Bullpen. Lee came around from the desk as she dived into his arms. She was dressed uncharacteristically in just a plain t-shirt and a pair of jeans that she must have quickly thrown on as she raced out of her apartment. She hadn't even bothered to put on makeup but it was obvious that she had been crying. Lee found himself being hugged tightly as if she would just crumble to the floor if she let go. Lee had seen many sides of Francine but feeling her trembling in his arms as she cried against his shoulder was heartbreaking. He tried to his best to comfort her.

"Why Lee? Why? He wasn't on a case. Why was he even out there?" Francine pleaded for answers.

"I don't know. I intend to find out though," Lee said as he tried to swallow the lump that had developed in his throat.

"So what happens now?" Francine asked like it was the first time an agent had been killed.

"The police wouldn't tell me anything. So I guess the first thing is to go pay them a visit and see if I can change their minds," Lee suggested.

"I'll go with you," Francine said quickly. Lee nodded as he knew that it would be useless to try to stop her. Billy had been like a father to her too. He demanded a lot from her because he knew she needed to prove herself in this man's world. He had been honing her for awhile to take his place eventually. No one expected it to be this soon though.

Lee heard Amanda moan in her sleep next to him. It brought him back to the present. He looked at her beautiful face and saw the toll that Billy's death had taken on her. Thankfully the lulling movement of the train seemed to help her as she snuggled a little closer to him and resumed sleep.

That fateful morning, when she had arrived for work, Mrs. Marsten had handed her a message to wait for him in the Q Bureau. Lee waited until he was sure she had arrived before he called her. She began asking him what was wrong before he could say anything. He suggested that she sit down and then tried to tell her as gently as he could. Amanda was such a strong person, but even she couldn't handle losing her friends well. Even though he couldn't see her, he knew that she had crumbled into her chair as the news sunk in. Her silence told him that she was trying to choke back the tears for his sake. He told her that he would be back shortly and to stay in the Q Bureau with the door locked. This was one time that he was certain that she would listen to him.

Francine and Lee had spent an hour at the police station trying to get information out of them. They refused to budge. They wouldn't even let them see the body. They were told that it had been pretty mutilated in the attack but that they had already obtained a positive id. The person, who came in, declared it to be Billy Melrose. Lee and Francine begged them for more information. Who was this mysterious person who identified Billy's body? Did the police have any leads on who might have done this? Did they have any theories on why it happened? The more they begged to be included in what had the police knew, the more the police seemed to be determined to keep them out of the investigation. They finally had no choice but to admit defeat and head back to the agency

Lee walked into the Q Bureau and found a very distraught Amanda. She was sitting at her desk while staring out into the room. Her eyes showed signs that she had been crying. She seemed to be lost in thought, so she didn't hear him come in.

"You okay?" Lee asked softly while trying not to startle her.

Amanda's whole body jerked at the sound of his voice. She lurched herself from her desk into his arms and let the tears flow. It took all his resolve not to start crying with her. He knew he needed to be strong for her sake. She had to gasp for air a few times in between her sobs, but Lee understood that she needed to let it out. He gently rubbed her back while trying to comfort her, the best he could. Several minutes later, she was able to gather herself back under control and asked Lee for more details. He guided her to the couch and sat down with her. He told her everything that he had learned from the time she had left the night before. They spent the morning puzzling over what it all meant. Had Billy been set up by someone? Like any good agent, he had his share of enemies. His behavior from the days prior to the shooting suggested that something more was going on that none of them knew about. The whole thing gnawed at Lee.

The train lurched as it went over a rough patch of track and brought Lee back into the present once again. Thankfully Amanda had managed to stay asleep. She had told him that since the shooting, she seemed to have a lot of nightmares, and found it hard to sleep for more than an hour at a time. He hoped that the security of being in his arms was allowing her to finally get some much needed rest. No one had done much sleeping since that awful night. Lee was determined to figure out who had killed Billy and why. There were not many clues though so it had been difficult to know where to start. The police continued to refuse to cooperate with the agency. Lee had tried to talk to Jeannie but she had been too distraught and asked Lee to come back another day.

Billy Melrose had been admired by many. He had been a strong and compassionate leader who led by example. Since he pushed himself in perfection, it motivated those who worked for him to do the same. He had always been a fair boss and never shied away from complimenting a job well done. His popularity showed the day of his funeral since the church quickly filled to capacity. Some of the more fortunate ones found space to stand inside. Many others were not so lucky, but waited patiently outside for their chance to say their final goodbyes to a man they considered to be a good friend and colleague.

Lee, Amanda and Francine along with many of the other agents had taken over the front few rows. Lee had suffered the loss of friends through his life but nothing prepared him for the heartache of losing Billy. He sat between Francine and Amanda and could feel both of them needing his support. He had to continue to stay strong for both their sakes. Many people stood up to share memories of Billy and to share their feelings of loss. Lee barely heard any of them. His body was there, but he had allowed his mind to go elsewhere so that he didn't lose his sanity. When it was over, he walked over to the urn that held Billy's ashes and said quietly, "I will find who did this Billy. They will pay." He cut it short because others were impatient for their turn.

Lee fully intended to keep his promise, but as the weeks went on, he found himself in more dead ends then leads. Amanda tried to get him to slow down, but he found himself not even listening to her. He spent time hanging out in bars while hoping to hear someone bragging about killing the agency man. Sleep no longer mattered, and it took all of Amanda's persistence to even get him to eat food. He began forgetting to shower and often came in unshaven. It had been allowed for the first month to give him space and some time to grieve. However, his superiors soon became annoyed with his continued behavior and lack of self care. It was not only affecting the others around him but it had become a hindrance in him performing his job. Eventually there was no choice but to put him on desk duty and not allow her to do any field assignments. He didn't care though because he didn't have time for any of that. Amanda took care of each item that he was assigned so that he wouldn't get into trouble. Her eyes began to have a hollow look and she withdrew from the rest of the agency. In his own sorrow, Lee barely noticed though.

Then one day, a letter came addressed to Mr. Lee Stetson. Mrs. Marsten gave it to him when he came back from chasing another dead end lead. He opened it when he got upstairs. Who would write this? He was sure it wasn't Harry because he would have just called Lee. Could it have anything to do with Billy's death? He felt like it did. The term "Zulu Blue" meant to come without question. Whoever wrote the note was familiar with this code. When he showed the note to Amanda, she didn't hesitate about going with him. They both asked for a week of vacation to begin immediately and were granted the time off. It was hoped that having some time off would allow Lee to settle down and come back to work like his old self. Not even Lee or Amanda knew what lay ahead. They could only hope they would find the answers that they were so desperately looking for. Who killed Billy Melrose and why?

 **TBC**


	4. Chapt 4-The Mystery Gets More Mysterious

**Chapter Four – The Mystery Gets More Mysterious**

In the early hours before sunrise, Lee finally dozed off for a short time. His sleep was full of dreams that continued to get more and more violent. He suddenly awoke with a start when his current dream had him watching Billy get shot. His sudden movement caused Amanda to stir, but she soon relaxed back against his chest and resumed what appeared to be a troubled sleep.

Lee began replaying the memories of the final days of Billy's life again in his head. There was one memory that had recently re-surfaced and continued to haunt him more than any other. He couldn't help but think it was a clue to Billy's murder. About two weeks before the shooting, Billy had invited Lee to join him for steaks and beers at Randy's. While they were waiting for their meal, a strange man had walked up to them. He glared menacingly at Billy and insisted that he knew him. Billy claimed he had never seen the man before. The man called him a liar and began demanding money that he claimed Billy owed him. At first it seemed like a joke that the 6th floor had orchestrated since they loved pulling stuff like this. Suddenly the man pulled out a knife and threatened Billy with it. If this was a joke, it was going too far. Thankfully, Randy had seen the first signs of trouble and had alerted the police. They rushed in at that moment, and the man quickly put the knife away when he saw them. He growled at Billy, "We are not done discussing this, George." He then hurried out the side entrance and disappeared into the night.

Lee had sat stunned at the exchange, but ironically Billy didn't seem that surprised. "What the hell just happened?" Lee asked. Billy shrugged and said "I guess he thought I was someone else." Billy had then chuckled and mentioned how people were always mistaking him for someone else.

"Billy, he seemed pretty convinced that you were the man who owed him money. Is there something I should know?" Lee pressed for more information. "Oh come on Lee. The man didn't seem to be all there. He was obviously very unstable. I'm not sure who George is but he definitely has the wrong man," Billy insisted as he continued to make light of the whole encounter. He bought Lee another beer and the rest of the evening was spent with no further incidents or discussion about what had happened. After that night, Lee found himself so busy with his current case load that he never gave it another thought. Later he was so caught up in losing his friend that the incident had been the furthest thing from his mind. About a week ago, Lee was chasing down another dead end lead when he drove by Randy's. On the way back, he unexpectedly decided to stop in to have a beer. Seeing Lee enter the bar, Randy had pulled up a chair and sat with him so he could reminisce about his friend and patron. Billy had been a good customer over the years and Randy had gotten to know him well. He was often the one Billy would come to in order to blow off some steam when he and Jeannie had a disagreement or when Billy was under a lot of stress.

Lee sat listening to some of Randy's memories, when he suddenly thought of that night again. Lee turned the conversation to ask Randy about it and he reluctantly agreed to talk about it. Randy's voice cracked as he explained that it was the last time he had seen Billy alive. He hadn't even had much time to spend with him since it had been a busy night. He told Lee that he had never seen the stranger before and he had never returned. Lee asked Randy if he knew of Billy being involved in a case. Randy told Lee that Billy had not confided in him about anything he was currently involved in. Lee sighed and thanked Randy for his time as he chugged the rest of his beer down in one swallow. He placed a tip on the table as he prepared to leave. He had parked in the back so he headed for the back door. As he started to open the door, he noticed a hat sitting on the floor. Lee picked it up and studied it for a minute. It looked just like the hat that Billy was fond of wearing. What was Billy's hat doing there? There was nothing that identified it as Billy's hat though. Lee decided that it could be anyone's hat. It wasn't like Billy wore some sort of special hat. He put it back where he found it and left without asking Randy if he knew who the hat belonged to. He had regretted his decision almost immediately and returned to Randy's an hour later. He not only couldn't find Randy but also the hat had disappeared. Perhaps, Lee reasoned, it had just belonged to one of the patrons there and he had fallen off the coat rack. As Lee left, he noticed there wasn't a coat rack anywhere in the vicinity. In fact, there was nothing near the area for the hat to fall off from. It just appeared to have been laying on the floor for no reason.

His thoughts were cut short, and he was brought back to the present by Amanda waking up. She moaned slightly first and then bolted upright as if something really bad had scared her. Lee quietly said, "Are you okay?"

Amanda whipped her head around to look at him and then took in the sight of her surroundings as if she didn't know where she was. Suddenly it all came back to her and she relaxed a little. "Yeah, I'm okay. Do you know where we are?"

"No, but does it matter? It's barely 6 am so we still have another twelve hours before we arrive."

"Lee? What do you think we are going to find when we get there?" Amanda asked.

"I don't know. Whoever arranged this; either wanted us out of town or else wants us to be there for a reason. I'm hoping we get some answers tomorrow morning when the phone rings."

"None of this is making any sense. The order to come by train with no questions asked along with the whole mystery of traveling so far away is all so strange. Lee, I'm a little scared. What if this was a way to get us out of town so someone could hurt my family?"

"I did think of that so the house is being watched. Your family is safe, Amanda."

"Thanks Lee. I should have realized you would think of that," Amanda said gratefully.

"Well that's probably why I'm the best agent around," Lee said teasingly with a grin. Their normal flirtatious bantering had been put aside after Billy's death as they drew on each other's strength to deal with their sorrow. Lee was so thankful she had come with him.

The train began to slow down as they neared a large city. After a few minutes, Lee realized they were in Chicago. They had to transfer to a different train here and would have an hour layover. The train slowly rumbled into the station and stopped beside of the platform. Everyone on the train had begun to gather their things so they could disembark. After the aisle was clear, Lee arose from his seat and helped Amanda to her feet. As they began to gather their things, a porter showed up to help them. Lee assured him that they were all set and that he could help someone else. Just as the porter turned to leave, he picked up a piece of paper off the floor. "I think you dropped this sir," he said as he quickly shoved it into Lee's hands before hurrying towards the front of the train. Lee began to protest but he unfolded the paper to see if he could determine who it really belonged to. His heart skipped a beat as he saw a hand drawn map with a note that simply said, "Scarecrow, you will need this when you answer the phone."

 **TBC**

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	5. Chapter 5 - The Map

**Chapter Five – The Map**

Lee's head snapped up as he frantically began looking among the departing passengers to try to catch sight of the porter. Without saying a word to Amanda, he began to push his way through the crowd to the front of the train. "Lee?" Amanda called after him while trying to understand what had just happened. By that time, Lee had reached the front of the train. He ran down the stairs frantically searching among the crowd for the man who had given him the note. There was no sign of him on the platform or inside the train station. After several minutes, he admitted defeat and worked his way back to Amanda.

"What was that all about?" Amanda asked anxiously. "Not now," Lee answered back sharply as he picked up their bags and began to guide her off the now empty train. Once they were inside the train station, he motioned to the back of the room where the seats were all empty. After putting their bags down, Lee sat down beside Amanda and pulled out the map to get a better look at it. While trying to act normal, Lee showed Amanda the paper. He heard her gasp slightly as she read what had been written on it.

"What do you think it means?" Amanda asked quietly.

"I don't know," Lee admitted as he studied the crude drawing. The top was labeled Mirror Lake State Park. The person, who had drawn it, had written in very few details. It did show several areas that seemed to be landmarks. Little red x's had been placed in various spots. Nothing told them what they meant though.

"Lee, do you think this is a trap?" Amanda asked nervously?

"If it is, someone has gone to a lot of trouble when it would have been just as easy to do this back in D.C., don't you think?" Lee reasoned. "I'm going to go talk to the station clerk to see if he knows where the porter went."

"I'll come with you. We can pretend that we are a couple. If he doesn't know where the porter is, maybe he can tell us a little about this park. We can tell him that the porter had recommended it as a great camping spot." Amanda suggested. Lee considered it for a few seconds and then nodded his head in agreement. As he helped her to her feet, Lee slid an arm comfortably around her waist. For just a second, his thoughts went to how natural it felt to have his arm there but he immediately dismissed the thought. Now was not the time to think about his feelings for Amanda. He guided her to the ticket counter where an older gentleman was reading a book.

As Lee and Amanda grew closer to the booth, the old looked up at them and smiled. "Howdy folks!" he said as he put down his book.

Amanda smiled and said a cheery "Good morning. We were wondering if you could help us out."

"I sure can try, young lady," the man said. "My name is Martin but people call me Marty. What's yours?"

"I'm Amanda and this is my boyfriend Lee." Amanda offered.

"Nice to meet you. Where you folks from?" Marty asked in a friendly way.

"Maryland," Amanda answered quickly. "We decided to take a vacation together. I'm afraid Lee does things without planning," Amanda said in a scolding voice while avoiding looking at him. "So we jumped onto the train in D.C. and here we are, but we don't have any place to stay. We were talking to the porter and he mentioned a state park in Wisconsin Dells. Do you know where the porter went? We wanted to ask him more questions," Amanda asked innocently.

Marty's face showed signs of confusion as he responded "Porter? We don't have a porter. It must have been someone dressed up and you mistook him for a porter."

Amanda and Lee exchanged brief looks before Amanda continued. "Really? Oh, I was sure he was the porter. Well in any case, he told us about this park and even drew a crude diagram of it. Do you know of it?"

"I sure do young lady," Marty responded with a lot of enthusiasm. "I have an uncle who helps manage that park. I spent a lot of my younger days there exploring the caves, hiking the trails and swimming in the lake."

"That's wonderful!" Amanda exclaimed. She pulled out the map but quickly folded over the words that mentioned Scarecrow on the top. "The porter had drawn this for us on the train. Unfortunately, he seemed to be in a bit of a hurry when he gave it to us and didn't explain about any of the landmarks or x's. Can you explain them?"

Marty studied the map for a few minutes while looking perplexed. He finally looked up and asked "Did you tell the porter that you wanted to go visit a place that was haunted?"

"Haunted?" Lee and Amanda both reacted with unease at the same time. This trip was making less and less sense every minute. What did a haunted park have to do with the murder of Billy Melrose?

 **TBC**


	6. Chapter 6 - The Journey Continues

**Chapter Six – The Journey Continues**

"Come on! Haunted? Really? What makes it haunted?" Lee questioned while not trying to hide his disbelief.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Marty said quickly. "I just wondered if this man who gave you the map, thought you wanted to check out a place that is known for being haunted. Now mind you, I haven't ever seen or heard anything personally. I have just heard a lot of talk about strange lights at night in these particular areas," Marty explained as he pointed back to the red x's on the map. He then continued, "There have also been reports of far away sounding voices. People are convinced that there must be a graveyard buried there. Some people who have stayed out on the lake after dark kayaking have come back telling stories of moving shadows and ghostlike images shimmering in the moonlight reflecting off the water."

"Do you believe any of these stories?" Amanda asked. "That all sounds a bit far-fetched."

"Me?" Marty replied while chuckling. "I think someone has spent a lot of time spreading the stories so they can make money on the people who come to check it out. Those tourists are so afraid by the time they visit that any little noise or movement sends them racing to get out of here as quick as possible. Then, later, we see them on TV talking about how haunted Mirror Lake State Park is. That seems to bring a whole new wave of folks arriving to check it out."

"Sounds like a pretty good way to get tourists in," Lee admitted. "No, we weren't looking for a haunted location. We just wanted a quiet, peaceful place to enjoy a few days away. Do you think the park will be crowded?"

"No, no one stays more than a few hours. They spend money at the local hotels, restaurants and bars and then head home. It is a great place to camp. The water is pristine so the fishing is really good too. You can rent a kayak for the day and just fish and enjoy the scenery. If you are lucky, you might even see some wildlife venture out," Marty explained.

"You said you have an uncle who works for the park?" Amanda asked. "Do you think he would be willing to give us advice when we get there?"

"Sure, Uncle Harold is a great guy. He knows the best camping sites, fishing sites and the best place to take pictures. Just tell him that Marty sent you."

"We sure will!" Lee and Amanda both said at once. A train had just pulled into the station and they suddenly realized it was their connecting one. They thanked Marty and headed back to gather their belongings. They were soon on board the train and had picked seats in the back since most people seemed to prefer the front. As the train headed on its way, Lee noticed that Amanda seemed lost in thought.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. I just find it ironic that we traveling all this distance to try to find information about who murdered Billy while the place we were instructed to go to is said to be haunted."

"You don't believe those stories do you? It sounds like a good Scooby-Doo mystery to me. We might spot the Mystery Machine any minute now," Lee suggested in a teasing voice. "Come on Amanda, you are usually the voice of logic."

Amanda gave Lee a scolding look as she answered him. "No, I don't believe in ghosts, but maybe someone is trying to make us believe that Billy's ghost is there."

"Okay, now you have me worried. Why in the world would Billy's ghost come to Wisconsin Dells? Amanda, you aren't making any sense."

"I know that Lee. You know, none of this has made any sense. From the moment Billy Melrose was murdered, life stopped making sense," Amanda said with her raspy voice full of emotion.

"I know," Lee said as he put his arm around her shoulder and drew her to him so he could comfort her. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make light of your thoughts. Your instincts are usually pretty spot on. This one is just too raw for both of us." He gently turned her head with his hand so he could look down into her eyes as he tried to reassure her. "We should be there in about 4 hours. Then we'll find someplace we can rest for the night so we can be at that phone booth in time for the call tomorrow morning."

Amanda stared up into his beautiful eyes and for that moment felt safe. Somehow they would figure this out together.

"I can't wait to find a hotel where I can have a hot shower," Amanda admitted. "Lee, have you ever been out in this area? I mean, has there ever been a case that brought you to anyplace nearby?"

Lee reluctantly removed his hand from Amanda's face as he answered her question. "I go to so many locations but nothing sticks out in my memory for anything near here. I did think about that too. I have also tried to remember if any of the bad guys I ever put away were from this location. I just don't remember any though," Lee admitted in a frustrated voice.

"How do you think Jeannie and the kids are holding up?" Amanda asked clear out of the blue. It took Lee by surprise but he quickly recovered and said, "She has a lot of family so I'm sure they are supporting her."

"Yeah, family is important. That is one of the downsides of being involved with someone from the Agency is that you never know when they might not come home," Amanda said.

"Yeah," Lee agreed, "It is always one of the hardest parts of having friends of any kind in this business. I think I told you that way back in the beginning. You can't allow yourself to get emotionally involved," Lee gently reminded her.

"I know. It just doesn't seem real though until you lose someone you really care about," Amanda glanced up and saw the pain on Lee's face. "I'm sorry Lee. I know you have lost a lot of friends over the years. This is really the first one for me. It makes me wonder sometimes why I don't quit the agency. Then I realize that I'm already involved and that not knowing if you or the others are safe daily would make it even harder. At least if I'm here, maybe I can do something to help save you if you are in trouble."

Lee took the opportunity to try to lighten the mood by saying, "Why Amanda, are you saying that I get into trouble? Me? The best agent ever? I have no idea what you are talking about," he finished with a chuckle. Amanda couldn't resist but chuckle too.

After that, she leaned back against him and the two spent the rest of the trip resting together. The unknown lay ahead and neither of them knew if they would be getting much rest for awhile.

 **TBC**


	7. Chapter 7 - The Wait Begins

**Chapter Seven – The Wait Begins**

It felt so good to finally get off the train and stretch when they arrived at their destination. As Lee and Amanda exited the platform, they both noticed the phone booth. Lee walked over to it to check it out. It looked like an ordinary phone booth. They would have to wait for morning before they would get any more answers.

"Can I go get my shower now?" Amanda asked with a smile as she noticed Lee's frustration at not finding any new clues.

Lee chuckled and said "I think it is time for both of us to get a shower after traveling so long on that train." He picked up their bags and they began walking out of the station. They soon discovered that several cabs were lined up in hopes of grabbing fares so they hired one. After asking about hotels, the cabbie suggested a reasonably priced, clean place nearby and headed his car in that direction. When they arrived, Lee paid the fare and helped Amanda out of the car. He gathered their bags, and the two of them walked into the hotel together. The lobby was tastefully decorated, but it was clearly not a five star hotel. As they approached the desk, Lee realized that they had not discussed sleeping arrangements.

He should have known that Amanda would already have a plan. As they neared the desk, she sang out "Hello" in her cheery raspy voice. The clerk smiled back and asked, "Do you have a reservation?"

"No, we are just passing through. I was wondering if you have a room with two beds?" Amanda asked. The clerk ran his finger down the listing of available rooms and soon found one. In no time they had checked in and found their way to their third floor room. Lee unlocked the door and they stepped inside. There were 2 beds in the middle of the room along with a desk and an office chair. Everything looked clean and the beds looked comfortable. It was all they needed.

"Thanks Amanda," Lee said gratefully.

"I know we don't have a lot of money since the agency isn't paying for this trip. I knew that we should be able to get a room that had separate beds."

"Why don't you take a shower and I'll go find us some steak subs," Lee suggested.

"I won't refuse that offer," Amanda admitted. She quickly gathered what she needed and headed for the bathroom. Meanwhile, Lee hurried down to the front desk and asked for recommendations of a good sub shop. After discovering what Lee wanted, the desk clerk ordered the subs for him. He told him that he would bring them up when they arrived. Lee took the elevator back to the third floor and let himself back into the room. Not realizing that Lee was back, Amanda had come out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. She seemed lost in thought as she didn't notice he was there. Once again, Lee found it hard not to stare. She was truly a beautiful woman. Why hadn't he noticed that sooner? He was so busy thinking of her as only a housewife that he never saw her for the woman she really was. He quickly ducked his eyes and cleared his throat. "I'm back," he announced. Amanda looked up and blushed immediately. She grabbed a robe that was on the bed and quickly pulled it on.

"I didn't expect you back so quickly," she explained.

"I know, I know. The desk clerk ordered for us. He is going to bring the subs up as soon as they arrive. Look, I'll go grab my shower and it will give you a chance to get dressed." Their eyes met as a mutual respect and understanding passed between them. Amanda smiled as she realized that it had been awkward for him too. He respected her and went out of his way most of the time to avoid her being in uncomfortable situations around him. It was one of the things that she admired about him.

"Yeah," Amanda agreed. "That sounds like a good idea," they both said at the same time. They chuckled and it broke the tension. Sometimes it was eerie how they seemed to know what the other was going to say.

Lee gathered what he would need. He left money on the table by the door so Amanda could tip the desk clerk and then headed into the bathroom. After enjoying a relaxing shower, he toweled himself off and got dressed. He then shaved himself for the first time in days. It felt good to be clean again.

His mind drifted back to the memories of Billy. The weeks leading up to his death were still a mystery. He did not act like the Billy that Lee had considered a father figure for all those years. Was it possible that Billy was experiencing burn out? Did he get involved in something that he shouldn't have in hopes of retiring soon? No, Billy Melrose was an honest, loyal, agency man. Lee just couldn't believe that he would ever turn his back on the agency. He couldn't stop wondering if Billy had been involved in a case. A secret case that no one, not even Francine knew about.

His thoughts were interrupted as Amanda announced that the food had arrived. Lee gathered his items and left the bathroom. Amanda had already made a little eating spot for them at the desk in the corner of the room. She motioned for him to join her. Neither of them had much appetite but they both knew that they needed to keep up their strength. After eating, Lee called the agency to check in with Francine.

"Lee, where are you?" Francine asked when she heard his voice. Lee ignored her question and asked "Any new information on Billy's death?"

"No, not really. There is a rumor going around that Billy was in the middle of a major drug deal that went sour."

"Is there any truth to the rumor?" Lee asked.

"None that we can pinpoint. Lee, you are supposed to be on vacation. Is Amanda with you? No one has seen her around her house."

"Yeah, she is with me," Lee admitted. "Look Francine, I can't tell you anything else right now. We might need your help later though. Can we count on you?"

"Of course Lee. Just be careful," Francine said. "I can't handle losing both of you too."

"We'll be careful," Lee agreed. Lee hung up as he observed Amanda watching him. He relayed what Francine had told him. This mystery just continued with no signs of unraveling itself.

They both decided it was time to get some sleep. They needed to make sure they were at that phone booth as early as possible in the morning. As Lee lay in his bed while staring at the ceiling, he wondered what information they would find out in the morning. Could it be possible that this whole trip had been a waste of time? Were they going to find out that none of this had anything to do with Billy? Lee found it hard to sleep as all these ideas kept swirling around in his mind. He finally fell into a troubled sleep a few hours before the alarm began going off.

 **TBC**


	8. Chapter 8 - The Phone Call

**Chapter Eight – The Phone Call**

"Lee, please stop pacing," Amanda urged.

"I can't help it. I can't stand this waiting."

"Well we should never have come so early. The note said the phone would ring at 9am. We didn't need to be here at 8am. We both could have slept for a bit longer," She said in a scolding voice.

"Oh, so you were really sleeping?" Lee asked with a grin as he stood still for a moment to stare at her.

Amanda realized she hadn't fooled him and smiled back. "Well no, but I was resting my eyes."

Lee had begun pacing again. It was nearly 9am. Amanda knew there was nothing she could say to calm Lee down. This call either meant a lot or else it had created a wild goose chase for them. A church bell nearby began to announce that it had just turned 9. At almost the exact same moment, the phone began ringing. Lee looked like a deer caught in headlights as his eyes met Amanda's. She nodded to encourage him to answer it. He quickly walked over and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" Lee said in an uncertain voice.

"Awwww, Scarecrow. I see you can follow orders when you want to. I'm very impressed. Is Mrs. King with you? Well of course she is. It isn't like you would leave her behind, now would you?"

"Who is this? Do I know you?" Lee demanded to know.

Oh, watch that temper of yours young man," the voice on the other end taunted. "No, we have never met but we do share some common friends."

"Oh? And who would those friends be?" Lee inquired.

"You are definitely a nosy one, aren't you?" the man continued to bait him. "Well let's get down to business, shall we?"

"Yes, let's," Lee agreed.

"So by now you have had a chance to look at the map that I had dropped in your lap, I'm sure."

"Yes, we have looked at it. What is it supposed to mean?" Lee asked while trying to keep the impatience out of his voice.

"Scarecrow, are you getting lazy? Aren't you the supposed to be one of the best agents? I suggest you go spend a few days there and look around at some of the places I marked out for you. I think if you are as good as you make yourself out to be, you should be able to come up with some answers."

Amanda had put her ear to the phone so she could hear the conversation. She decided it was time to jump into this conversation.

"Sir, I don't understand why you can't tell us what we are looking for? We came a long way. Can't you help us at all?"

"Mrs. King, so good to hear your voice. You sound as beautiful on the phone as you look in person," the man said with obvious affection in his voice. "Well for you, I will tell you what the ultimate goal is. Are you ready?"

Amanda looked at Lee and asked "Yes, what is our ultimate goal?"

There was a silence on the phone and then they heard:

"There once was a man named Billy.

Taking him for granted was silly.

Billy was a great boss.

His death would be a huge loss.

He's counting on both of you

And Francine too.

The map is your first clue,

It might take awhile so don't be blue.

Study it hard,

Don't let down your guard

And suddenly things will begin to make sense,

especially when you find the fence.

It is in your hands now

But beware of men crying foul.

You are Billy's last hope,

You need to find the dope.

The truth will set him free

And happy everyone will be.

So take a chance

And enjoy this dance.

"Good luck," he finished as the phone went dead.

 **TBC**


	9. Chapter 9 - Can It Be True?

**Chapter Nine – Can It Be True?**

"Oh my gosh!" Amanda exclaimed before Lee could get over being stunned. Was it possible that Billy was alive? But how? As Lee tried to make sense of what he had just heard, Amanda began frantically rummaging through her purse. She pulled out one of her grocery list pads and a pen and began writing furiously. Lee watched over her shoulder and was stunned to see that she was writing down the poem nearly word for word. She struggled on a couple of parts but Lee was able to help her fill in the holes.

"Lee? Is it possible that Billy is alive?" Amanda finally voiced now that she was done writing. Lee had begun to pace and he quickly swiped his hand through his hair in frustration. "I watched him die Amanda. I just don't see how it is possible that he is alive."

"What if the whole thing had been staged?" Amanda suggested.

"Why would anyone do that? Why wouldn't Billy have contacted us to let us know he was okay?" Lee continued to question as he paced faster. None of this was making any sense.

"What if he was hurt so badly that he couldn't contact us?" Amanda continued to grasp for straws.

Lee stopped pacing and looked in Amanda's eyes. "You might be onto something."

"Oh, you think he's hurt really badly?" Amanda asked as she struggled to hold back the tears. Was it possible that they had just discovered that he was alive, only to be too late to save him anyway?

Lee saw the anguish on her face and rushed over to Amanda. He grasped both of her arms in his hands and peered down into her face. "No, what if he had no choice but to fake his own death What if the rumor about a big drug deal was really true and Billy knew they intended to kill him that night. So he let them believe that they killed him so they would be less cautious and become careless."

"Why would he have waited to get us involved?" Amanda asked as she began to be hopeful that maybe Lee was onto something.

"Maybe he really did get hurt that night. Or maybe he needed for things to be more in place before he involved us."

"I think you might be onto something Lee. Who was the man that we just talked to though and how does he tie into Billy?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't recognize the voice, but Billy has a lot of old Agency friends. Some of them are people that I have never met. He could have asked one of them for help."

"I still don't understand why we had to travel so far away though," Amanda continued to ponder. "If Billy did call in some old friends for help, wouldn't they be back in D.C?"

"I guess that is what the poem means by studying the map. That park has to be the missing link. Let's go get some coffee and take a look at it some more. Then I think we need to go visit it in person, don't you?" Lee suggested.

Amanda nodded in agreement and they began walking down the street to a small café. Billy Melrose might still be alive. This amazing, miraculous possibility left them both feeling more alive than they had in weeks. Now it was time to do what they did best and solve this case. They just weren't sure how much time Billy had left.

 **TBC**


	10. Chapter 10 - Mirror Lake State Park

**Chapter 10 – Mirror Lake State Park**

"Damn it, I don't see how this map is going to help us solve anything. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this was all just a trick to get us out of town," Lee declared as he slammed the map down on the table to take out his frustration. Every head in the café turned to see what was going on.

Amanda blushed as she said calmly to the other diners, "We are sorry to have interrupted your meals. My friend just got some bad news and he is a little upset."

Everyone seemed to be understanding and went back to their breakfasts.

Amanda turned back to Lee and put her hands on top of his. "Now Lee, you can't let it get to you. It won't do Billy any good if you get all crazy and out of control. You need to stay focused."

Lee looked at Amanda and nodded. She always seemed to know the right words to calm him down. "You are right!" He admitted as he forced himself to regain control of his emotions.

Amanda pulled the map back to where she could see it more closely.

"Amanda, I think we should go check out of our hotel and then take the bus out to the park. We can camp there, which will allow us to see if there is anything strange going on at any time of the day or night. Perhaps once we are there, we can start making sense of what is so damn important for us to find there."

"I agree Lee. We also need to find Marty's Uncle Harold. He might be able to help us figure out what is so special about these areas that are marked with red x's," Amanda suggested as she referred to the map. She carefully folded the paper and put it in her purse.

They headed back to the hotel and after gathering their things, they were soon checked out and Lee had settled the bill. The woman at the front desk gave them the bus schedule. Luckily they discovered that bus was about to arrive any minute so they thanked the clerk and headed for the bus stop. A few minutes later it pulled in and they were surprised to discover that they were the only ones on it. They took a seat near the front and sat together. Amanda couldn't help but observe the bus driver. She couldn't put her finger on it, but he didn't seem like someone who would drive a bus. He had long, curly hair and wore a baseball cap to try to keep the curls from being completely out of control. She also noticed that he had a weird nervous tick in his leg. He didn't seem to be able to stop it from shaking. He kept glancing at them in the rearview mirror which was a little unsettling. Lee didn't seem concerned so she decided her imagination must be working overtime. She forced herself to relax and sat back in the seat. To keep from watching him any longer, she spent the rest of the trip looking out the window. About ten minutes later, a big sign welcomed them to Mirror Lake State Park. The bus driver let them off at the front entrance without saying a word.

They made their way into the office and prepaid for a couple nights to camp there. Since they didn't have any gear, they were able to rent a tent and sleeping bags along with some other necessary camping things. The park staff member, whose name tag read Steve, explained that they could help themselves to the firewood that was stacked up in various locations around the camping area. Amanda noticed that the office had some fresh meat for sale and suggested they buy some for their lunch. Lee agreed and they grabbed some ground chuck and a package of hamburger rolls along with a bag of chips.

"Louie, please help these nice folks carry their gear out to campsite #3," Steve asked the young kid who was sweeping the floor.

"Sure," Louie responded as he began gathering the items they had just rented. He led them down a well worn dirt trail which led out to one of the most pristine lakes that Amanda had ever visited. She found herself wishing that the circumstances were different so she could truly enjoy being there. She would have to put this park down on her bucket list of places to bring the family when they went camping again.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as they reached the campsite.

"Here we are!" Louie said in a very cheery voice. "There are markers to let you know the boundary lines for campsite #3 so you can set up your tent anywhere in that space. Have either of you ever camped before?"

"Oh yes," Amanda said with a smile. "My sons are Junior Trailblazers. We spend a lot of time camping in the summer."

"Great! Do you need me to help you set up the tent?" Louie asked.

Louie was getting a little too cozy with Amanda and Lee wasn't sure he wanted him hanging around. Before Amanda could respond, Lee jumped in and said, "I think we can handle it from here. I'm sure you have other guests to attend to." Lee avoided the glare he knew he was getting from Amanda.

"Yes sir. Well you know where the office is if you need anything," Louie said and he began the hike back.

"LEE! That was rude. He was only trying to help," Amanda sternly chastised him as soon as she was sure Louie couldn't hear him.

"Oh come on, Amanda. He was eyeing you as if you were a juicy barbecued burger on the Fourth of July."

"What? Lee, he was just being nice. If I didn't know any better, I would say you were jealous."

"Amanda! I am not jealous. I just didn't think you would want someone looking at you as if you were slab of meat. Hey, look, the next time I won't save you, okay?"

"I think you were reading a lot more into it than was necessary. Meanwhile, I wanted to ask him about Harold and you messed that up," she continued to scold.

Lee swiped his hand through his hair as he realized he had messed up. The kid was likely just being nice and Lee had overreacted. He wasn't ready to admit any of that to Amanda yet though. "We can ask about Harold later. Let's get the tent up first," Lee suggested as a way to change the subject.

"Okay, while you do that, I'll get a fire going and start cooking lunch," Amanda turned away quickly and pretended to be busy pulling out the items they had just rented so she could cook the burgers. She didn't want him to see the big grin that she couldn't seem to stop from spreading across her face. This should be an entertaining afternoon.

Lee began to protest, but then realized that he was the one who had thrown Louie out instead of letting him set up the tent for them. It didn't matter, Lee Stetson could figure out something as simple as setting up a tent. He pulled all of the different parts and pieces out of the bag and arranged them on the ground. He searched for the directions but they were absent from everything else. It didn't matter. After all, how hard could it be to set up a tent when young kids did it all the time?

Lee quickly set to work. Amanda couldn't help but sneak peeks as he proceeded to assemble the tent on top of a huge tree root. It took all she had not to laugh as he tried to push the poles through the tent sleeves before they had been secured together. Since some had been left attached by the last user, they provided enough support so that Lee didn't realize the problem and assembled the tent that way. As he began attaching the poles to the ground, suddenly the whole tent buckled and collapsed.

"Damn it!" Lee exclaimed as all his efforts from the last hour were suddenly a big waste of time. Amanda couldn't control herself any longer and burst out laughing.

"A-Mand-DA!" Lee scolded. "It's not funny. Oh, I suppose you can do better?"

Amanda brushed the tears out of her eyes, removed the burgers from the heat and then went to work. In less than 10 minutes, she had moved the tent to a flat piece of ground and it was assembled and secured with tent pegs.

"Show off!" Lee insisted as she grinned at him. "Are the burgers done? I'm starving."

Amanda placed them back on the heat for a few minutes and then announced they were ready. She could tell Lee's ego was bruised so she said, "You know Lee, I've assembled a lot of tents over the years."

"Amanda, I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, fine." Amanda handed him a plate with a burger on it. She motioned to the unopened bag of chips.

Lee opened the bag of chips a little too roughly and half of the chips ended up on the ground. As he proceeded to clean them up so they wouldn't attract bears, he continued complaining. "I mean, it should have had instructions. It isn't right that I paid all that money and the thing didn't come with instructions," Lee continued to pout.

"I thought you didn't want to talk about it anymore?" Amanda questioned.

"I don't. I was just explaining."

"Well for someone who doesn't want to talk about it, you are talking about it a lot."

"Amanda, I don't want to talk about it."

Just as Amanda was about to tease him some more, a man walked onto the site. He wore a pair of shorts and a tank top along with a large sun hat. His muscle toned body sported a beautiful tan. "Howdy folks," he said. "How long have you two been married? I heard you bickering at least 500 feet from here. You don't look old enough to have been married long, but you sure bicker like an old married couple."

Lee and Amanda denied it at almost the same moment. "We aren't married!" They both announced a bit too forcibly.

"You aren't? Wow, you could have fooled me. We'll try not to rent any of these sites near you so you can have your privacy. I normally like to meet our guests when they arrive, but I was on the other side of the park earlier. Let me introduce myself; my name is Harold. I'm one of the park managers.

Lee and Amanda exchanged quick glances. They hadn't had to go find Harold after all. Harold had found them. They were so stunned that neither of them noticed the outstretched hand that Harold offered.

 **TBC**


	11. Chapter 11 - Harold

**Chapter 11 – Harold**

Suddenly Amanda realized rather awkwardly that Harold had extended his hand in friendship and they had ignored it. She quickly apologized and warmly shook hands with him. "I'm glad to meet you Harold. I'm sorry to seem so rude. We were just surprised to have you drop in on us. We expected to have to go find you." Amanda continued to try to explain so as to get past this awkward moment. "We were actually told to look you up by your nephew Marty. My name is Amanda Keene and this is Lee Steadman."

Harold's tanned, weathered face smiled at Amanda as he shook Lee's hand. "How is that nephew of mine? He promised to come out so we could go fishing together but he keeps telling me he is too busy." Harold didn't seem at all concerned about how awkward things had seemed a moment ago.

"He seems like a nice man," Amanda said pleasantly as she looked at Lee for guidance. Lee gave a slight nod so Amanda reached for her purse and pulled out the map. "We were given this on the train just as we arrived in Chicago. Marty took a look at it but said that you would be the one to ask about it." Amanda handed him the unfolded map. As Harold looked at it, Lee noticed that the expression on his face seemed to change but when he looked up, he had the smile back on his face as if the map was just a piece of paper.

"It's a map of my, um I mean, this park. It looks like it was drawn pretty much to scale too," Harold said hesitantly.

"Can you tell us what the red x's mean?" Lee asked.

"I'm not sure. Did you ask the person who gave this to you to mark out something special?" Harold asked as he handed the map back to Amanda.

"No, but your nephew mentioned that the park is supposed to be haunted," Amanda added.

Harold burst out laughing and said, "The locals love spreading that rumor to keep the tourists coming. If you came here expecting to see ghosts and things that go bump in the night, then I'm afraid you are going to be sorely disappointed. I'm sorry you wasted your time and money to come all the way out here based on those stories. I'll tell you what, if you want to leave now, I will refund the money you paid to the park including the rental of the gear. Let's head back to the office. I'll send Louie out later to pick up all the gear. I have some brochures in the office of a nearby town that is famous for its haunted areas. They even have ghost walk tours and you can explore haunted houses where many people claim they have seen ghosts and heard eerie noises. That seems to be more like what you are seeking."

Lee and Amanda exchanged looks quickly before Amanda said "Harold, thank you for your concern, but we are not looking for a haunted location. Your nephew wasn't sure what the x's meant. He only thought they might be areas where people had complained about being spooked. We appreciate the offer but it isn't necessary to refund our money. We are looking forward to spending a few days here."

Harold looked at Amanda for a few seconds as if trying to figure her out. Finally he said, "Okay suit yourselves then. Just to be clear, this is a reputable, clean park. I have helped run this park for over 20 years. I really don't know what those x's mean," Harold said a bit forcibly. He didn't seem to be ready to let the subject drop. He asked, "How come you selected this park out of all the state parks available for you to visit if it wasn't in hopes of seeing a ghost?"

"We actually just wanted a quiet, beautiful location to camp for a few days so we could enjoy some swimming, kayaking, hiking and other outdoor activities. Our work is very stressful and we needed a break. We have friends in the area and they suggested this park. We are both looking forward to a nice, quiet, relaxing vacation," Amanda explained.

Suddenly, clear out of the blue, Harold abruptly announced, "I'm sorry but I have to get back to the office now. I've been away all day and I have things that need to be done before I can go home. It was nice meeting you both and I hope you enjoy your stay here." He hurried off without waiting for any response from the pair.

After waiting a few minutes to make sure he had gone far enough up the trail, Amanda quietly voiced the question that had been going through both of their minds, "Lee? What just happened? Why do I get the feeling we were just lied to?"

"I would say it is because we were just lied to," Lee agreed. "Amanda, something strange is happening in this park. I don't know what it has to do with Billy but I guess now that we are here; we are going to have to figure out what is going on. Harold certainly seemed very eager for us to leave _his_ park."

"He must play a role in all of this. We were guided here for a reason Lee. I think whatever is going on is definitely connected to what happened to Billy. Do you remember the poem?" Amanda pulled the poem out of her purse and read,

"The map is your first clue,

It might take awhile so don't be blue.

Study it hard,

Don't let down your guard

And suddenly things will begin to make sense,

especially when you find the fence."

Lee listened to her and then thought for a minute. "So do we need to go looking for a fence? What kind of fence and why would a fence matter? Do you think something is buried along it?" he pondered.

"I don't know. I guess we should spend the afternoon exploring and see if we can find the fence," Amanda suggested. "Let's eat first though. I'm starving." Lee's stomach rumbled at that moment and he agreed.

They both sat down at the picnic table at their site and enjoyed their burgers. Amanda spent the time studying the map while she ate. The poem said to study it hard. The answer had to be in the map. Why was she not seeing it? What was Harold trying to hide? Everything just kept getting more frustrating by the minute.

 **TBC**


	12. Chapt 12- Picket, Split Rail or Stockade

**Chapter 12 Picket, Split Rail or Stockade**

After finishing their lunch and cleaning up, Amanda and Lee filled a backpack with some essentials for a hike and then headed out. They decided to start northwest first because it was heading away from the office area. After walking most of the afternoon, they had covered a large area of the west side of the park but had not found any fences.

They did stumble onto Louie though. They took him by surprise. He was leaning against a tree in one of the many picnic areas and was smoking a cigarette. In front of him, there was a young man sitting at the picnic table under the tree with his back to Louie. Lee could tell right away that they were talking to each other. He exchanged a glance with Amanda and he knew she wasn't being fooled either. The two men were in such a heated discussion that they never noticed Lee and Amanda until they were just a few feet away. Suddenly the young man at the picnic table got up and rushed off in the direction they had just come from. Louie fumbled as he tried to quickly snuff out the cigarette.

"Hi Louie!" Amanda said cheerfully as she waved at him.

"Oh hi. I didn't expect to see you this far from your campsite? Are you lost?" Louie inquired while acting like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Lee's dislike of the man took over his emotions before he could stop it. "I'm sorry; I didn't realize we were restricted to areas just around where our campsite is. Is that in the rules or something?" Lee asked sarcastically while again avoiding Amanda's glare. Something about this kid just rubbed him the wrong way.

"Of course not," Louie said quickly as he tried to explain further. "It just isn't often I see people walk this far out in the park. The hiking trails are more scenic and often various wildlife will make appearances on the trails so they are more popular."

Amanda rushed to smooth things over and said "We just wanted to take in the whole park. We will go hiking another time. Actually I love photography and was hoping to get a picture of Lee against a fence here with some amazing scenery from the park in the background. Are there any fences in the park?"

Louie smiled at Amanda and said in his best bedroom voice, "I would have guessed you liked photography. A woman as beautiful as you would make a great model. Perhaps you would like to model for me? I love photography too. I know I could capture every beautiful angle you have if we spent some time working together."

Lee was quickly losing the small amount of control he had as Louie continued to come on to Amanda.

Amanda had noticed Lee's face so she quickly responded, "We would love to model for you. I promised my mother a picture of Lee and I standing next to a fence though. Please tell me that there is a fence in the park. It could be a split rail or a white picket fence. I don't think a stockade fence would be very picture worthy. Oh I know, there must be horses for rent here that are in a fenced in area?" Amanda suddenly realized that this must be the fence that the poem is talking about.

Louie realized that Amanda wouldn't agree to anything without Lee so he changed back to a normal voice as he answered her. "There are no fences in the park. We don't rent horses, but there is a farm nearby that rents both horses and donkeys. However, they are banned from being in the park. Harold likes to keep _his_ park pristine so he won't tolerate the manure they leave. I doubt the farm has anything other than barbed wire fencing there."

Amanda felt let down and had a hard time keeping her voice sounding normal as she thanked him for the information. She knew that Lee was likely at the end of his tolerance so she told Louie that they needed to get back to the campsite before it got dark. Louie offered his arm to escort her back and Lee immediately reacted. He took Amanda's hand protectively and said, "come along sweetheart, I'm sure we can find our way back by ourselves." Louie and Lee glared at each for a few seconds, but then Louie backed down and said "Harold will be expecting me anyway. I've been gone too long." Louie hurried off down the southeast trail without a backward glance.

By this time, Lee was seething, but Amanda didn't seem to notice. "I don't get it. The poem clearly tells us to find a fence. I don't see any reason for Louie to lie about the fence. How can this whole park not have a fence? Lee? Lee, are you listening to me?" Amanda demanded as she saw him staring down the trail after Louie. She couldn't help but smile when she saw the expression on his face.

"You better be careful. Otherwise, I might think you are acting jealous of that kid," she teased him.

"Amanda, I am not jealous. There's just something that isn't quite right about him," Lee insisted.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"Never mind. Let's just get back to the campsite. We need to come up with a plan for tonight."

"Tonight?" Amanda asked. "What kind of plan?"

Lee locked eyes with Amanda and said a little sarcastically, "Why a plan to go meet the ghosts that Harold insists don't exist in _his_ park."

 **TBC**


	13. Chap 13-Things That Go Bump in the Night

**Chapter 13 – Things that Go Bump in the Night**

Lee and Amanda walked quickly down the trail that Louie had taken. Along the way, they came across another campsite where a young couple was busy cooking their dinner. They appeared to be in their twenties and the young girl looked very pregnant. As Lee and Amanda prepared to walk by, the girl said to the man, "I'm going to be sick. I knew that I shouldn't have gone camping this far along in my pregnancy. The smell of that fish is too much for me."

The man quickly covered the frying pan and then rushed to her. He convinced her to lie down and drink some water. Amanda couldn't just leave them, so she walked into their site and said, "Hi" in her cheery raspy voice. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I have two young boys at home so I know all about how smells affect you when you are pregnant."

"Can you help her?" the man pleaded with his eyes.

"I can try," Amanda answered as she reached into the backpack they were carrying. "This should help," She said as she pulled out a big bag of pretzels. "There is something about the salt in pretzels that helps soothe the tummy," Amanda explained as she handed one to the woman. "My name is Amanda and this is my boyfriend Lee."

"Hi, I'm Kevin and this is my wife Lorraine. I'm so glad you came along when you did. We planned this vacation trip a year ago without realizing Lorraine would get pregnant. We would have been out a lot of money if we had canceled and Lorraine felt that she would be fine. I guess I won't be fishing anymore while we are here though," Kevin sad sadly.

"Oh, you could just give us all the fish," Lee said with a big grin.

"Will you take this off my hands? That would be great!" Kevin gestured to the frying pan of fish. He hadn't realized that Lee had only been teasing. It seemed silly to waste the fish though so Lee agreed. In no time the pretzels had calmed Lorraine's stomach down and she insisted they leave with the fish. Amanda promised to return the next day with the clean frying pan.

"Well I guess we know what we are having for dinner now," Lee said with a chuckle as he carried the pan in front of him down the trail. When they were far enough away so Lorraine couldn't smell the fish anymore, they located a picnic table. The fresh trout that Kevin had caught was delicious and he had cooked it with just the right spices. After enjoying their meal, they headed back to their campsite. Amanda cleaned up the pan while Lee started staring at the map again. She finished up and sat down next to him.

Suddenly, Lee thrust the map into Amanda's hands and got up to begin pacing.

"I just don't understand why we have to play these games. If Billy is alive, he could be dying while we try to figure out rhymes that make no sense!" Lee said in frustration as he swiped his hand through his hair.

"Lee, getting angry isn't going to help. Why don't we pick one of these x spots and go watch the area to see if anything happens tonight?" Amanda suggested.

Lee stopped pacing and nodded. Amanda was right; they might as well do something, he decided. They picked a spot that was about a mile from the lake and began hiking out to it before they lost all the daylight. They decided to stay back about 20 feet from the actual spot on the map and hid in some low bushes so they could keep an eye on the area. The area was surrounded by raspberry bushes so they both enjoyed picking some of the sweet berries while they waited. It didn't take long for the sun to set and soon they found themselves in complete darkness. In the distance, an owl hooted. Otherwise, they didn't hear a sound from anywhere.

As they sat in the dark, Amanda couldn't help but wonder how her family was doing. She had left them with very little warning as usual. The last few days had been a mixture of emotions and stress and she knew her mom would pick up on that if she called. She also knew her mom was probably sick with worry by now. She would need to call her tomorrow before the police were alerted.

The hours went by slowly as they sat in silence for fear of being heard. Even the owl had grown quiet. The moon had appeared from behind a cloud and its glow lit up the ground around them. They made sure they stayed hidden in the brush. Amanda was finding it hard to keep her eyes open and was ready to suggest they go back to their tent to get some sleep.

Before she could make the suggestion, they both heard a strange shuffling noise and looked at each other. It sounded like a very heavy person was walking their way. The person made no attempt to be quiet as he stepped on twigs and leaves on the trail that snapped and rustled. The person was also taking his time pushing through all the berry bushes and seemed to be intent on eating the juicy berries along the way. Lee and Amanda could only see the shadows that the person created in the moonlight. Whoever it was had begun making loud, weird grunting noises. Lee pulled his gun out of its holster and stood up enough so he could check out the area. He couldn't help but be startled when he saw this huge creature walking towards them. It was walking on two feet like a man but stood well over six feet tall. It seemed to be almost totally white. Lee knew very little about wildlife and he didn't believe in ghosts so he asked Amanda to take a look while the creature was busy picking berries. Amanda stood up and saw the creature and mouthed the word "bear" into Lee's ear. "Bear?" he asked. "Aren't bears black?"

"They can be many colors but I would think they should be black around this area. I didn't read anything about grizzly bears being in the park. I'm also pretty sure there are no polar bears here," Amanda agreed.

The bear had heard them. It dropped back onto all four feet and headed in their direction to investigate.

"Amanda?" Lee questioned as he saw the huge animal heading their way.

"Let's get out of here," Amanda suggested as she grabbed his hand to pull him out of the bushes. They both started to walk quickly away, but then realized that the bear was running after them. It was good that the moon was helping them be able to see so they began running too. It was several minutes before they were brave enough to look back. The bear had stopped and was eating the berries in the area where they had been. They stood for a moment to watch it and soon Amanda couldn't control her emotions anymore. Lee realized she was giggling.

"A-MAN-DA? What are you laughing about? We could have just gotten killed by a silly old bear," Lee chastised her just before he began giggling too.

"Not by any old bear though," Amanda managed to squeak out in between her laughter. "By a ghost bear."

They both continued to chuckle for a few minutes as they found it harder and harder to breathe through their giggles. Finally they were able to get themselves back under control and catch their breaths.

"Come on," Lee said as he took her hand and helped her up the rocky terrain. The night had been a complete waste of time but they had both needed the laughs. Lee wondered if Harold knew that _his_ perfect park had a ghost bear in it. Perhaps it would be fun to tell him in the morning. Somehow he didn't think Harold would find the humor in the story.

 **TBC**


	14. Chapt 14 What You Have to Do For Coffee

**Chapter 14 – What You Have to Do For a Cup of Coffee**

Amanda and Lee made it back to their camp just after 1am. Amanda was thankful that they had rented a four person tent so there was plenty of room inside. It was too warm to lie inside their sleeping bags so they lay on top of them instead. They both fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows they had rented with the bags.

As the sun began to rise the next morning, Lee struggled to wake up. His body felt stiff from sleeping on the ground. He should have rented air mattresses for them he mused as an afterthought. Well it wasn't like he hadn't slept in worse places before, and Amanda was used to camping. He would just have to deal with it. As he managed to stand and tried to stretch out the kinks in his back, he noticed that Amanda was waking up. She was still wearing the clothes she had on the day before. Even without her makeup and with her hair bedridden, she was probably one of the most beautiful women he had ever known. Lee had been so completely lost in thought as he stared at her that it took a moment for him to realize she was actually speaking to him.

"Good morning Lee. Lee? Earth to Lee? Do you think they have fresh brewed coffee in the office? I need to call Mother and the boys this morning and could really use a cup." Amanda asked in her normal cheery voice as she tried to pretend that she hadn't noticed him seemingly captivated as he stared at her.

"I'm sure they do. I'll go take a shower and meet you back here shortly. Then we can walk to the office together," Lee suggested. As usual, Amanda had woken up sounding as cheery as ever. Lee hoped a shower would help him stay just as cheery.

"A shower sounds wonderful right about now," Amanda said as she rushed to get up and gather her personal hygiene items. About thirty minutes later, they were both refreshed and ready to greet the day. Lee wondered if they would run into Louie again at the office. He hoped not.

They took the trail that led directly to the office, but stopped along the way a few times to watch various critters scurry in front of them. Nothing topped being chased by a bear at midnight though. A ghost bear at that.

As they arrived at the office, they noticed that Harold was sitting outside in a patio rocking chair sipping a hot cup of coffee.

"You folks still here? Did you come to check out?" he asked them sarcastically as they came into view.

"Check out? Why no, of course not. We are enjoying our stay here very much. Thank you for asking sir," Amanda said too eagerly as she pretended not to notice his tone. "This is such a pretty park. We spent all day yesterday scoping out scenic places to take pictures. Harold, is there any fences in this park? We asked Louie yesterday but he couldn't think of any."

"Fences? I know every inch of this park. If there were any fences, they were removed before I came here. Now there is a rock wall on the most southern border. We had trouble with the neighbor many years ago who allowed their pesky cows to graze in the park so I had some friends help me make a rock wall. It not only stopped the cows but it upset the neighbor, so she moved," Harold said with a chuckle at the memory.

Amanda exchanged a quick glance with Lee. Was it possible that the poem meant a wall instead of a fence? Perhaps the person couldn't find a word to rhyme with wall. Amanda knew in her heart that wasn't true. However, she also knew they couldn't pass up any clue though. Billy's life was counting on them being thorough. They would have to check out this wall later on.

"Do you have a payphone I could use?" Amanda asked.

"Yes, there is one on the other side of the office building."

"One more question," Amanda dared to ask. "Is it possible to buy a couple of cups of coffee from you?"

"Nope." Harold said without any emotion.

Amanda saw Lee tense up and said "That's too bad; we both really were hoping for a cup and didn't want to have to go to town to satisfy the craving."

"You can't buy it because it is part of the amenity of the park. Help yourself to all the _free_ coffee that you want," Harold finished with a smile that seemed to be almost sincere.

"That's very kind of you. Lee, can you pour me a cup while I go call Mother?"

"Sure Sweetheart, I'll chat with Harold while I wait," Lee said. He went inside and found that there was a complete coffee station against the back wall. The coffee smelled fresh and he smiled as he realized that Old Harold probably drank the stuff all day. He likely offered it for free so that no one would question the coffee budget. Lee poured the hot liquid into two disposable cups. They only had creamers, so he had to make due. It was better than no cream at all.

Lee carried both cups outside and put Amanda's on one of the patio tables nearby. He then plopped himself down in the chair next to Harold.

"Are you bored with the park yet?" Harold asked.

"Bored? Hardly, we have been finding the most interesting things here. Plus we are already beginning to make friends with some of the other campers."

"Oh, which campers are those?" Harold asked. His curiosity was evident.

"Well, we met this nice couple last night who's expecting a baby," Lee said and watched for a reaction.

"I sure hope she doesn't pop the kid while she is here. Having emergency vehicles all over the place will definitely cause a big stink," Harold said disgustingly.

"Really? In what way?" Lee questioned.

Harold realized how he must have sounded and said, "I just meant that people won't know what is going on and will think there is trouble here. I run a clean park and I don't need any trouble. If they send the police out to escort her to the hospital, it will cause all kinds of negative publicity."

"I would think that it would give the park some good publicity," Lee suggested. "Just think about it. A young couple comes to enjoy the scenic Lake Mirror State Park. During their stay, their baby decides that he or she wants to enjoy the park too. Beautiful, bouncy baby is born while enjoying the view. I can see the headline now."

Lee could tell that Harold wasn't agreeing with him. He wondered why Harold was so opposed to having the police at the park. Was there a reason he was worried about having law enforcement around? He was thankful when Amanda suddenly reappeared. He quickly got out of the chair and handed her coffee to her. She wrapped her hands around the cup to ward off the morning chill and sat down next to the chair Lee had vacated. "How is the family?" Lee asked as he sat back down.

"They are all good. It was nice to talk to them," Amanda said while looking at Harold. She didn't want to talk about her family very much in front of him and Lee understood immediately.

"So Lee, who else have you met in the park?" Harold asked.

Amanda looked at Lee to try to understand what they had been talking about. Lee smiled and nodded at her to let her know to play along.

"Well we didn't get to talk to him but there was a young man talking to Louie yesterday at the southwest end of the park. We weren't sure if he was a guest or a friend. He left as we were approaching them. We were a little surprised to see Louie smoking." Lee confessed to Harold.

"You must be mistaken. Louie doesn't smoke."

"No, we definitely were not mistaken. He was smoking yesterday." Lee continued.

"I don't hire smokers and the rules are very clear that smoking is not allowed in the park," Harold insisted.

"We were probably mistaken," Amanda jumped into the conversation. She glared at Lee because she felt that he was trying to get Louie fired.

Lee backed down and said "Yeah, I was probably mistaken. Well I think we'll head back to our campsite now. We have a lot more exploring to do."

"Oh? Is there something in particular you are looking for?" Harold asked a bit too eagerly.

Lee acted innocent and said, "No, not really. I'm just trying to keep my girlfriend happy. She likes finding the unusual things among the ordinary things if you know what I mean." Lee winked at Harold.

"Well just be careful. There is plenty of wildlife out there so make sure you stay on the trails and don't wander out of the park. You know how I hate having to call in the emergency crews." Harold reiterated as he went back to sipping his coffee and rocking in his chair.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that," Lee agreed as he guided Amanda away from the office. After they had traveled a distance away from Harold, Lee told Amanda about the strange conversation he had had with him.

"He's hiding something!" Lee exclaimed. "I just know he is."

"He's definitely an unusual man. Imagine firing someone because they smoke. I like don't like cigarettes either but that isn't a reason to fire someone!" Amanda declared.

"It wouldn't be a huge loss," Lee said with a chuckle.

"LEE!" Amanda said as she threw him a scolding look.

"Okay, okay, let's go back and get that frying pan and go deliver it to Kevin and Lorraine. Then maybe we can go check out the rock wall."

"That sounds like a good plan. I wonder if we will meet up with any ghost bears today." Amanda mused.

"If we do, we are going to ask it to show us the fence!" Lee declared.

 **TBC**


	15. Chapter 15-Baby Talk Leads to Adult Talk

**Chapter 15 – Baby Talk Leads to Adult Talk**

Lee and Amanda found themselves welcomed with open arms this time from Lorraine and Kevin when they arrived at their camp to return their frying pan.

"I'm so glad you came back. I want to apologize for my rude behavior yesterday," Lorraine insisted when she realized who was stopping by. She gestured for everyone to take a seat at the picnic table.

"Oh it was totally understandable. Fish is one of the worst smells when you are pregnant," Amanda assured her. "There were a lot of things I couldn't be around when I was pregnant with my boys." Amanda put the frying pan in the stack of their cooking gear before sitting next to Lee.

Kevin blurted out without thinking, " _Your_ boys? Lee isn't the father?"

Lee turned a little red as he started to explain, "No, they are both great boys but sadly they are not mine. I didn't know Amanda back then."

"I was married for awhile but it wasn't meant to be," Amanda further explained. "What you have with Lorraine is special though so you fight to keep it, okay?" Amanda gently lectured since Lorraine had left the area for a few minutes to go to the bathroom. It was Kevin's turn to be embarrassed as he nodded in agreement. "I can't wait for my daughter to be born. Of course like every man, I had hoped for a son. Honestly, I'm just as excited now that it will be a girl though," Kevin said in a sincerely excited voice.

"Have you come up with any possible names yet?" Lee asked.

"No, we have not!" Lorraine answered as she overheard the conversation as she walked back into their camp.

"Oh, that's okay," Amanda reassured her. "Joe and I didn't name Jamie until after he was born either."

"Well unfortunately Kevin believes in picking out a name based on the birth. Have you ever heard of anything so crazy?"

"I've heard of this before," Amanda admitted. "Did you know that in many cultures, it is a tradition to wait for a number days after the birth before naming the baby?"

"SEE! It is not that weird," Kevin said as he gave a grateful look to Amanda.

Lorraine sighed and said "I guess I'm outnumbered." She then laughed and said "I guess as long as she is healthy and he's a good dad then that is all that really matters."

"You got that right!" Amanda nodded her agreement.

Lee had been silent during the entire conversation and was feeling left out. His experience with babies was very limited after all.

He winked at Kevin and Lorraine and said "I just hope you don't go and pop out your baby girl until after your vacation ends. I wouldn't want you to go and give birth in Harold's park. I doubt he would ever get over it."

He was relieved that they both burst out laughing at his comments.

"Did Harold tell you that he was worried about her giving birth here too? That man is something else. Do you know he almost wouldn't let us stay here because she was pregnant? Did you notice how empty the park is? That's because he is so picky about who stays here. He tries to convince everyone to go somewhere else," Kevin confided in them.

"He does?" Amanda and Lee both exclaimed at once.

"Didn't he try to talk you out of staying?" Lorraine asked as if she couldn't believe it.

"As a matter of fact, he did. We asked him about a map we were given of the park. There are rumors that the park is haunted so we made the mistake of bringing that up. He tried to convince us to go stay in the next town over right afterward. I think he would have driven us there if it would have gotten us to leave," Lee chuckled at the memory.

"A map? Do you have it with you?" Kevin asked.

Amanda and Lee exchanged a quick glance with each other and Lee gave a slight nod. Amanda pulled it out of her purse and showed it to Kevin and Lorraine.

"Wow, someone put a lot of work into drawing this," Kevin said with a low whistle.

"We were trying to figure out what the red x's mean," Amanda responded. "Do they mean anything to you?"

Kevin and Lorraine studied the map for a few minutes while pointing to various areas. They seemed to be communicating without talking.

They finally finished looking it all over. They then spread it out so they could all look at it together on the picnic table.

"This spot here is where the boat landing is. Now, I know for a fact that there are laws against speedboats being on this lake but I have heard what sounds like one every night we have been here so far. It usually starts around 9pm when it is dark and then the noise drifts off for awhile. It usually wakes me up around 2am when it comes back to the landing," Kevin explained.

"Have you seen the boat? Do you know who is driving it?" Lee asked.

"No, I'm too afraid to get involved. I guess what I don't know, can't get me into trouble," Kevin said with a shrug.

"What about the other spots?" Amanda urged.

"Well I'm not sure you want to hear this and I know Harold wouldn't want me talking bout it, but…," Kevin paused as he thought about whether he should share the information.

"Please go on!" Amanda urged.

Kevin glanced at Lorraine who shrugged and said "Why not? It doesn't matter to us."

Kevin nodded and said, "True. See, we are history buffs. Lorraine is a teacher and I'm a coach. We spend our vacation time in historical places. That is why we were so excited to come here. We had planned our vacation in advance so we could spend this whole month exploring this whole park. It is one of the most amazing historical places in Wisconsin other than the station in Milton. On the way home, we intended to do the tour in Milton too. Now it will depend on if our baby girl can wait," Kevin said with a chuckle.

Lee looked at Amanda with a puzzled expression on his face. He wondered if she knew what he was talking about.

"Kevin, what makes this place so special?" Amanda continued to urge him to tell them.

"I honestly thought everyone knew. Wisconsin was one of the most successful states to move the slaves through the Underground Railroad. The last certified Wisconsin Underground Railroad Station is in Milton. It was said that slaves used passageways there to escape out into the night and made their way on foot for nearly 80 miles to this park. Those spots that are marked with x's are the caves where they were hidden while they rested to continue their journey north into Canada. There are many in this state who do not like that this is part of their history. They have spent a lot of time and money trying to cover up that information. Lorraine and I find it fascinating," Kevin answered with a bubbly tone the entire time. It was very clear that he was telling the truth, and that they were both very excited to be vacationing in such a historical spot.

Lee shook his head as he swiped his hand through his hair. So the journey to find Billy had brought them to an Underground Railroad? His head was swirling with this new information. Could this whole thing have anything to do with Billy being black? It didn't seem possible in these times for it to be the case, but it was definitely something to consider. An Underground Railroad! They sure weren't expecting that information!

 **TBC**


	16. Chapter 16 - Wall Vs Fence

**Chapter 16 - Wall VS Fence**

Amanda's mind was reeling with this new information. Harold had to have known when they showed him the map. Why didn't he say anything? Did Marty know too. Did he stay silent for fear of his uncle's wrath? Was everyone _that_ scared of Harold? If so, why? Whoever had drawn the map knew. The person who called them with the poem knew. No one noticed that Amanda was no longer listening to the conversation around her. She pulled out the poem to read it again. As she studied it, she realized that she couldn't see any connection to the Underground Railroad. She looked up and was thankful that they had all been too busy talking to notice her. She was able to put the paper back away without being noticed.

"So does that mean that the story about the park being haunted is because there are supposed to be spirits left over from the slave days?" Lee asked.

"Yes, if you believe that sort of thing. Not every slave made it into Canada. Many died along the way. Some were really weak by the time they made it here so this became their final resting place. It was a brutal time in our history. Places like this become famous for the ghost stories associated with them. The stories usually originated from some true events that really happened. When you have so many slaves being moved through this area, it was bound to create stories for people to share. The facts soon become exaggerated and it becomes hard to distinguish between the truth and fantasy," Lorraine explained.

"What gets me is that Harold didn't tell us," Amanda joined in on the conversation. He knew what those x's meant, but he claimed he didn't. It doesn't make any sense especially since their historical significance could bring more people to the park."

"No, it really doesn't. You take a place like Gettysburg. It has a rough past too, but they have embraced their history. They created a huge tourist spot where they make a lot of money yearly from people hoping to see a ghost or at least to walk the hallow grounds and hear about the past. We enjoyed participating in the ghost walks and visiting the cemetery while we were there. There was so much to see and do with all the tourist attractions. Harold could make a fortune for the park, if he would allow it to be a historical park. He seems satisfied with how it is. I told you, he is weird," Lorraine concluded.

"Or he's trying to hide something," Lee voiced out loud.

"Like what?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know. Isn't it strange though that he does try to drive everyone away? If you were using the park for something you didn't want anyone to know about, then you would make sure no one wanted to stay here," Lee continued voicing his train of thought.

"Then you add in his fear of having emergency vehicles around. I think he is definitely hiding something," Amanda declared.

Everyone agreed but no one had a clue what it was. They finally changed the subject to share information about each other and to get to know each better. Before they knew it, Lee and Amanda had spent all morning with Kevin and Lorraine. They still wanted to go check out the wall, so they decided they needed to leave. In the meantime, they all promised to be careful around Harold.

Lee held Amanda's hand as they followed the trail that would lead to the most southern part of the park. The sun had risen high in the sky causing the temperature to get extremely warm as the day progressed. Lee and Amanda were feeling the heat. Thankfully they had brought a couple of canteens full of water so they were able to stay hydrated. However, the sun had been beating on them for over an hour and they were feeling the effects of it. Luckily part of the trail was near a corner of the lake, so they stopped to rest. By this time, their bodies were both glistening from the sweat that was pouring off them. Amanda said wistfully "I wish we had thought to bring bathing suits along with us today. That water sure does look inviting."

Lee said without missing a beat "Do we really need them?"

"Oh sure, that's easy for you to say," Amanda said with a scornful look.

"Come on Amanda. I'm sure you are wearing underwear. I'll turn my back so you can peel off your shirt and pants and get into the water and then I'll drop down to my boxers and get in while you turn your back. It will help us both cool off which is important right now in order to keep us from getting heatstroke. I think that the next part of the trail leads into a shadier part of the park according to the map. If we can cool our bodies down now, we should be okay until we hit that section. What do you say?" Lee urged her to agree.

"So you promise to keep your back turned until I get into the water?" Amanda asked as she stared into his eyes. He smiled but said sincerely, "I promise! Don't you trust me?"

Amanda smiled back at the question and said "Well of course I do Lee. Okay, go stand over there," she suggested as she headed toward the lake. Soon both of them were treading water and feeling a lot better.

"I think it is a good we found this spot. I really was starting to feel the effects of the heat," Amanda admitted.

"It would have been more fun to go skinny dipping though," Lee said nonchalantly with a perfect poker face as he waited for her expected reaction.

"LEE STETSON!" Amanda exclaimed as she splashed him full in the face. As she reacted, Lee couldn't keep the straight face any longer. As he began to smile, Amanda realized that he was teasing her. It wasn't often she fell for his teasing these days.

Before she realized what he was doing, Lee swam past her and kicked a bunch of water in her direction. She dove under the water so that his efforts were wasted. When she resurfaced, he was ready for her and splashed her. They both began giggling at their playful water banter, but agreed to call a truce. They didn't want to tire out since they still had further to travel. They spent the next 30 minutes relaxing in the lake before reluctantly deciding that they really needed to get going.

Amanda let Lee get out first and found herself tempted to watch him as he walked out. After all, he was wearing boxers so it wasn't like she would see anything. She blushed a little at the thought and quickly ducked her head as he left the lake. She followed shortly after and dived into some nearby bushes so she could dress in private.

After they both were dressed, they continued on their journey to find the wall. They soon found themselves in a section of the park that was surrounded by trees. It was almost immediately more bearable walking weather under the canopy of the trees. It took another hour to find the wall, but there was no mistaking it. It truly was an amazing wall. Amanda really wished she had a camera so she could take pictures of Lee in front of it.

They began walking the length of it while looking to see if they could find any irregularities or anything that stood out. They felt that whatever clue they were looking for would be easy to spot. They soon realized that whatever the wall was trying to tell them, it held its secret well. During their second pass of inspecting the wall, they were more diligent in taking their time to really look at every inch. Near what would likely be the halfway mark, Amanda pointed out that there was a very small section that had a different shape of rock that was used. Lee quickly began dismantling the rocks. As he lifted the last rock that looked different, a small jar was revealed. Amanda pulled it out of the crevice where it had been hidden. They were both excited and hopeful to see that there was a piece of paper in the jar. They had found the clue of the fence. Maybe they could solve the mystery now. After all, the poem had said that everything would start to make sense after they found the fence. They could barely stand the anticipation as Lee tried to open the jar.

 **TBC**


	17. Chapter 17 - The Note

**Chapter 17 – The note**

Lee put all his strength into trying to open the little glass jar but the cover was so rusted that it wouldn't budge.

"Hurry up," Amanda urged.

"A-MAN-da, I'm trying. The cover won't budge. It's rusted shut."

"So? Break it then," Amanda suggested.

"You want me to break the jar?" Lee asked because it seemed out of character for Amanda.

"Yes, break it. Here, let me do it," Amanda said impatiently as she grabbed the jar from Lee. It turned out that she didn't need to break it though. Lee had unknowingly loosened the cap and so it came right off in Amanda's hand. Holding the now separated open jar from its top, she couldn't help but gloat a little and tease him. "Wow, are you weak? I didn't have to barely touch it and the lid practically jumped off the jar for me," Amanda said with a chuckle.

Lee gave her a scornful look while muttering loudly under his breath, "Show off." He then urged her to hurry up, "Well, let's see what the note says already."

Amanda managed to pull it through the small opening of the jar with her fingers and quickly unfolded it after putting the jar down.

"Read it!" Lee could barely contain his patience.

"Alright!" Amanda cleared her throat before beginning.

"To whom ever finds this note, please be advised that you are likely in danger. The man who manages this park is unstable and should not be trusted. My family has lived in the house on the other side of this wall for a couple of centuries. We originally owned much of the land around this area but we donated over 100 acres to Wisconsin Dells to help create this park. We only asked for the ability to use the land within a reasonable distance from our house and to let our cattle continue to graze on this section of the park land. All of the land in this part of Wisconsin has historical significance as it was part of the Underground Railroad. My family didn't feel that it was fair to keep what they owned as private land when others should be able to enjoy it too. Unfortunately, back in those days, nothing was put into writing. It was all by handshake. The state had big plans to create a wonderful park to attract people who wanted to understand more about the Underground Railroad. Sadly, they would never hire anyone who knew how to promote the land to create this tourist attraction. Instead, it was made into a state recreational park.

In the 1960's they hired a man named Harold who promised to change all of that. He convinced the state to hire him to be in charge of every aspect of the park. He promised that he would bring in a lot of revenue by promoting the history of the area. Once he had control, he chose not to do any of that though. Over the years, Harold has become more sinister and more controlling. There are rumors that he is part of the mafia and now uses the park for criminal activities. We have heard strange noises and seen strange looking lights once it is dark. We are afraid to venture out of our yard for fear of discovering something that will get us hurt or even killed.

He seems to be obsessed with my family. He began by building this wall. Then he would just appear outside our home at random times during the day and night. He glares at the cows as he aims his gun at them. When he sees that we are watching him, he flashes a sinister grin at us and abruptly leaves. We never know when he will come back. I worry that we will come home from a shopping trip to find all the cows dead. He seems to hate them for no reason. We have tried to be civil with him but he has never made any attempt to reciprocate that gesture.

The last straw was when he began spending time watching our two small children. It frightened us as there is definitely something sinister about the man. We shouldn't let him win but we feel we have no choice. We must leave here. I am leaving this note as a warning to anyone who finds it. Our house is vacant because no one wants to live next to the park. No one wants to deal with him. Please be careful. You have been warned.

Signed,

Molly Tabor"

Amanda finished reading and looked up at Lee. "That gives us some history of the park and Harold, but what does it have to do with Billy or the poem?"

"Honestly? I don't think it has anything to do with it. This is a wall, not a fence. I think it is just a coincidence we found this," Lee stated.

Amanda found herself hating to admit it, but she knew Lee was right. Logically it had never made sense that the poem was referring to this wall but she had really hoped she would be wrong. The note did however confirm that Harold was not to be trusted.

 **TBC**


	18. Chapter 18 - This X Marked the Spot

**Chapter 18 – This X Marked the Spot**

"Amanda, you are not going! That's final!" Lee insisted as he continued to pack a few things into a knapsack.

"Why not? Come on, why would you make me stay here?" Amanda pleaded with him for what seemed like the thousandth time.

"You read that note, the man is unstable. What if he catches me tonight at the lake while he's doing something illegal? I want you to stay here where you will be safe!" Lee insisted further.

They had been arguing about whether she should go or not for nearly an hour. They were still no closer to a resolution.

Amanda finally stormed into the tent and sat down. She was so angry that she needed to get away from him so she could think. After all this time, why did he still feel the need to protect her? She had been working with him for almost three years now. Surely she had proved herself to him as a capable partner and back-up by now.

Lee could tell that he had not won this argument by a long shot and he braced himself for the next round. It didn't take long. He groaned inside because he had a feeling he couldn't win this one as Amanda exited the tent much too calmly. .

"You are right Lee. I shouldn't go. My time can be much better spent here. While you are out checking the lake, I'll spend some time around the office. After all, Louie seems quite taken by me so maybe I can get him to open up about what he knows about Harold."

"What?" Lee managed to sputter. "You will do no such thing!"

"Lee Stetson, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Now, I'm not going to sit in this campsite tonight by myself without doing something to help find Billy."

"Okay, you win. You can come with me," Lee said with a huge sigh. She had gotten too adept at knowing how to manipulate him over the years with her logical thinking.

"Are you sure? I think my time might be better used talking to Louie," Amanda said with a smirk.

"A-MAN-DA, I said you are coming with me. That's final!" Lee choked out as he realized he had been totally played.

"Okay, if you insist," Amanda said as she went inside the tent to gather a few things to add to the knapsack. She couldn't help but smile to herself at how predicable he was these days.

Earlier, when they had returned from their trip to the wall, they had found some fish stored in ice on their picnic table. There was a note on top from Kevin. He explained that he loved to fish and was thankful that they would not let the food go to waste. The meal had once again been very tasty and they were thankful for his generosity. It might be a long night, so it was good to have full bellies.

Now it was all just a waiting game. Kevin had mentioned that he would hear the speedboat around 9pm. That meant they had a bit of a wait before they needed to head out. They were both very antsy by the time the sun finally began to set. Lee carried the bag as they both headed to the area where the big Red X was on the map. It was unbelievable how to scale this map seemed to be. It took them right to the boat landing spot. They soon realized that this area definitely had a purpose. Not only could boats come and go freely, but they also could make out tire tracks even in the fading light, which suggested that a large vehicle had come down to the water's edge.

Since they found themselves to be alone, they took some time to investigate the area. Lee pointed out to Amanda that the tire tracks led back through the woods. Upon closer observation, they could tell that there was a faint image of a road which suggested that vehicles used this area to access the park. He also pointed out the numerous foot prints that seemed to be everywhere. Perhaps since this was a boat landing area, they were simply using the road to bring in boats. Lee didn't believe that. Kevin had mentioned that speedboats were not allowed in the lake. Therefore, only kayaks, paddleboats and row boats should be in the water. No one would need to use a large vehicle to transport one of those boats.

The sun had set and the night was beginning to settle in so they knew they needed to get out of sight. Lee guided Amanda into a spot nearby where the tall grasses would provide cover, but also allow them to watch the area. Since they were more prepared this time, he had remembered to bring a pair of binoculars. It seemed like hours while they sat waiting for something to happen. Just before 9pm, they began to hear what sounded like a large vehicle heading their way. They could hear it as it shifted gears several times along the way. Suddenly it burst through the tree line and pulled up near the lake.

The sight of the vehicle left them both in complete shock. They sat stunned as the driver got out. Lee took a look through the binoculars and then handed them to Amanda. They both recognized him immediately and Amanda cringed at the memory. There was no mistaking that man. Three other men disembarked from the vehicle also. Suddenly in the distance, the sound of a speedboat was becoming audible. It coasted up to the landing dock and Louie jumped off it after shutting off the motor. Lee and Amanda could only sit and watch as Louie and the driver of the vehicle shook hands and greeted each other. The other men appeared to be the workers and soon became busy unloading the plain, unmarked boxes from the vehicle. They noticed that the boxes came in all different sizes that would fit on the boat. Soon the boat was overflowing with its cargo. Louie pulled out his wallet and handed each of the men a wad of cash. There was some grumbling among the men, but it soon stopped when Louie raised his voice. Unfortunately, Lee and Amanda were too far away to overhear any of the conversation. They regretted that they had picked a spot so far away because it would have been interesting to hear what was going on.

Louie had jumped back into the boat while all the other men boarded the bus they had arrived in. In no time, Louie had the boat speeding across the lake without a backward glance. Meanwhile, the bus lumbered back through the faint road that led somewhere into the park. The whole transaction had taken less than twenty minutes, but it had been long enough to give the illusion that the park was being used for something illegal. Just what had been in those boxes and where was Louie going with them? It was a question that neither Lee nor Amanda could answer.

They had never seen any of the three men who did all the work. However, Amanda would never forget a man who had a nervous tick in his leg. The bus driver was the same creepy bus driver who had driven them that first day to the park. As Lee and Amanda found themselves alone again, Amanda spoke first. "Oh my gosh Lee! What have we stumbled onto?"

"I don't know. I wish we had a boat so we could follow Louie. Whatever is in those boxes might be the clue to why we were sent here," Lee proposed.

"Well we can't follow Louie tonight. We do have flashlights though. Should we try to track where the bus went? Maybe it will lead us somewhere and answer some of our questions," Amanda suggested.

Lee swiped his hand through his hair. He didn't like the idea of walking into the dark woods. They could easily be ambushed along the way. There weren't many choices to pick from though. Somehow he didn't think either of them would be willing to settle for going back to their camp right now either. In answer to her question, he held out his hand to her. She gratefully accepted it and he began to lead her into the dark woods in the direction the bus had just headed.

 **TBC**


	19. Chapt 19- Catching Up With an Old Friend

**Chapter 19 – Catching Up With an Old Friend**

Lee wished it wasn't such a cloudy night. The elusive moon had been hiding behind those clouds the whole night. It would have been very beneficial for it to be brightly shining like the other night. Instead, they would have to rely on a flashlight to guide their way.

"Okay, so in case anyone asks, we are just taking a walk. We found this 'trail' and decided to follow it," Lee suggested for their cover story.

"Of course!" Amanda nodded in agreement. There was no way to go quietly as their feet crunched on the twigs and leaves that were scattered all over the ground so they didn't even try. They followed the road for nearly an hour before it suddenly looped around and exited onto an old back road. There wasn't a sign of life around. With no street lights and no houses lit up in the area, it gave off a spooky sensation. In the distance, an owl hooted and Amanda jumped at the sound.

"You okay?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, where do you think this is?"

"We haven't been walking for very long so it must be one of the back roads that winds around the park. It's very convenient though since the area seems to be deserted. They can come and go without being noticed," Lee observed.

"I think there is a street sign down there. Should we go see what it says?" Amanda asked.

"Sure, why not," Lee shrugged. He wasn't sure if it mattered but they might need to know where this was later if they needed to call the authorities.

They walked about five hundred feet down the road until they could read the sign. Amanda read the name out loud. "Pickerel Slough Road. What a name!" She exclaimed.

"Should we suggest the name to Kevin?" Lee said with a chuckle.

"I think Lorraine would hurt you very badly," Amanda said with a sideways grin.

"You are probably right!" Lee said as he began to guide her back to the road that would lead back into the park. "This is pretty clever. Unless you were looking really hard for this road, you would never spot it."

"Lee? What do you think was in those boxes?" Amanda turned back to being serious.

"I don't know, but, Amanda, we need to find out. I think we should go back to camp for now and get some rest. In the morning, I want to rent a couple of kayaks and we'll go see where the lake takes us."

"You aren't going to insist I stay in camp this time?" Amanda asked with a grin while trying to break the seriousness of the situation.

"I don't think it is wise for us to split up anymore," Lee said soberly. "Amanda? Promise me that you will stay away from Louie."

"You know, I just can't believe that nice kid could be involved in something bad. He seemed like a nice kid." Amanda said with a little sadness in her voice.

"Sometimes it is the nicest ones who you have to worry about," Lee reminded her. He started to say something more but suddenly stopped walking. As Amanda began to question him, he put his hand over her mouth with one hand and pointed with the other one. About five hundred feet in front of them stood a huge bear with two young cubs. The cubs were busy playfully slapping each other and wrestling while Mama ate blueberries from a huge patch just off the side of the road. Amanda knew that the only time a black bear was really dangerous was when there were cubs involved. However, she wasn't sure if these were black bears because their coats seemed to be covered with something white. Could this be the same bear they had seen before and they just hadn't noticed the cubs? Thankfully the bear was very focused on eating as many berries as possible so she didn't seem to notice them at all. They ducked through the undergrowth on the side of the road and made a wide berth around the bears. Neither of them dared to speak again until they had reached their camp.

"That was close!" Lee exclaimed after they were safe.

"Yeah. Lee, what was that stuff on them?" Amanda wondered.

"I don't know. Maybe they have dandruff?" Lee volunteered with a grin.

Amanda smiled but continued her thoughts, "I think the next time we see them, we should try to get a sample of it."

"Are you serious? And do what with it Amanda? It isn't like the agency's lab is right here so we can have it analyzed."

"That's true, but don't you want to know what it is?" Amanda asked.

"I would rather just not run into those bears again," Lee answered truthfully.

 **TBC**


	20. Chapter 20 - Let's Go Kayaking

**Chapter 20 – Let's go Kayaking**

If the circumstance had been different, Amanda knew she would really be enjoying kayaking on such a beautiful lake. Instead she felt anxious about what they were going to find. She had found it hard to sleep and had been restless most of the night. She noticed that Lee hadn't slept much either. They both arose long before the sun did that morning.

They had headed to the office as soon as it opened so they could rent two kayaks. They were both relieved and surprised to find a girl was running the office that morning instead of either Louie or Howard. Marcia explained that she was there just for the summer and would be returning to college in the fall. It was obvious that she was quite attracted to Lee as she openly flirted with him. Ironically, he was old enough to be her father. Amanda had a hard time to keep from laughing at the display she was putting on. In the end, it worked to their benefit beautifully. Without even asking, Marcia had let them borrow two kayak carts at no charge. It made it much easier to transport the kayaks to the water's edge.

Now, they were paddling down the lake while hoping to find some answers. Amanda found herself eyeing the banks along the way. She kept expecting to see that someone was watching them. So far they had only seen a family of deer and a lot of birds. It didn't relieve her mind though, as there were plenty of places to hide in the tall grasses on the edge of the lake.

After paddling for a couple of hours, they saw a sign on the bank that announced they were entering Lake Delton. Marcia had told them that they would end up there. It was a village at the end of the lake and many tourists paid a lot of money to stay there. The rich stayed there instead of camping around Lake Mirror.

"What are we looking for?" Amanda asked as they began to enter the village.

"I don't know. I hope we will know once we see it," Lee admitted.

The village was beautiful. Most of the beach had not yet been invaded by the villas that were being built on the western end of the village. That left a lot of beach area still available. Since it was a beautiful day, the beaches were loaded with people enjoying the weather.

Lee led the way around the village. They could see that the water line ended on the backside of the island. It made sense to follow it to the end before they got out of the kayaks to start walking around the village. They had nearly reached the lake's end when they spotted the boat. It was tied up on a dock in front of a beautiful mansion. They quietly pulled up along side it and checked it out. It was definitely the speedboat they saw the night before. Did Louie live in this estate? What was the boat doing there? Lee and Amanda exchanged unspoken questioning looks.

The estate was amazing. It was at least 3 stories and was surrounded by a few acres of a well manicured lawn. The landscaping was true perfection and it was obvious that whoever took care of the grounds and building really cared about their work.

"Let's go see if anyone is around," Lee suggested.

They pulled the kayaks up onto the beach area and far enough away from the water so they would be safe. Then they began walking hand in hand around the estate to see if they could find anyone around who might talk to them. They were about to knock on the door when they noticed a garage area and could hear music playing. After walking to the garage doorway, they peered inside and were shocked to see that the garage was a woodcrafter's shop. It seemed so out of place in such a setting.

"Hello?" Amanda yelled out in her cheery voice as she let go of Lee's hand.

A man dressed in overalls hurried from the back to the doorway to meet them.

"Hello? What can I do for you? Are you looking for a desk, a bureau, a night stand? Oh, I know. Of course, you are looking for a new bed frame," the man said in a very excitable voice.

Lee cleared his throat and said "No, sorry, we didn't come to buy anything."

"Oh? That's too bad. Well are you lost?" the man asked.

"No, we aren't lost. Let's try this again. My name is Amanda and this is my boyfriend Lee," Amanda volunteered while hoping he would introduce himself.

"Okay? So what can I do for you?" the man answered without getting the hint.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but who are you?" Lee decided they didn't have time for this game.

"Name is Wilbur, but most call me Willy. I'm the caretaker around here. I do all the gardening and the upkeep of the estate. I still don't know why you are here though," Willy said as he raised an eyebrow.

Amanda realized that once again, they had not thought to come up with a cover story. In their usual unprepared flair, they both began talking at once.

"We are looking for someone," Amanda said while at the same time Lee offered, "We wanted to check out this beautiful estate." They both exchanged a quick impatient glare at the other while Lee tried to smooth things out by saying "We heard that this person might be staying here."

"Who are you looking for?" Willy asked a little suspiciously.

"His name is Louie and we believe he owns that speedboat that is tied up on the dock," Amanda offered.

"You won't find him here at this hour. He works at Mirror Lake State Park during the day. His boss Harold keeps a close eye on him during the day. I guess I would too if I was ole Harold. How do you know Louie?" Willy asked.

"We have been staying at the park. We met Louie there. He seems like a nice kid. We heard that he owned a speedboat so when we kayaked over today and saw it, we thought maybe he might own this estate too," Amanda said with a sincere smile.

Willy burst out laughing. "Lady, I don't know who you are getting your information from but you are sadly mistaken. Louie doesn't have a dime to his name. That boat belongs to Harold. He rarely comes over to use it these days though. Everything is about that damn park to him. I doubt the man hardly ever leaves it. He sure doesn't come over here anymore. This house is all his. He doesn't care though. It was handed down to him by his grandfather and he has never appreciated it. Most people would kill to own such a mansion. Harold has only held onto it because of the money he makes renting it. I'd be willing to bet a week's wages that the rent goes back into that park though."

"I'm not following you," Lee stated as he glanced at Amanda to see if she understood any of this. "Why would Harold have to put his own money into the park? Doesn't the state support it since it is a state park?"

"The state cut off funding to the park the day he refused to open it up as a tourist attraction promoting the Underground Railroad," Willy offered.

"So the state doesn't pay anything?" Amanda asked as her mind tried to digest this new information.

"Not much other than their salaries and a few basic maintenance items. I doubt any of them are getting rich on their pay. Harold hasn't had a raise in years. The state provides the bare minimum for them. They did agree to allow it to stay a state park in name only so it is tax exempt. That is about as far as the state's involvement goes though."

"Why would anyone stay there then? What is there to gain in working someplace that you have to support yourself?" Amanda continued to press for more information.

"I don't know. You've met Harold. He is an oddball. Maybe he likes the control. He doesn't have to answer to anyone and he acts like he owns the place. Anyway, he found Louie a couple of years ago. The kid acts like a hotshot when he is away from Harold. He goes around telling everyone how one day that park will be all his. People just laugh at him. He's a fool."

"So how do you know all of this?" Lee asked while still trying to work out all the puzzle pieces.

"Me? My family has been caretakers for this estate for hundreds of years. I grew up in this house. I grew up with Harold. He was always weird. His father wasn't very happy when Harold began spending all his time as a teenager at Mirror Lake. He would have disowned him but Harold's grandfather doted on him. I'm not sure his grandfather would be as happy with him these days if he knew he was renting the place instead of living here. Look, I have to get back to work before it gets busy later on. It was nice to meet you, but be forewarned to stay away from Harold. The man isn't stable," Willy said as he turned his back on them and went returned to the back of his woodshop.

As Lee and Amanda returned to the kayaks, they both tried to absorb all of the information that was just revealed. None of it made sense. This had to be one of the strangest situations they had ever been in. They got into kayaks and began to paddle back across the lake. They had just paddled past the sign that said Lake Delton on it when Amanda suddenly connected some of the pieces. She stopped paddling and asked, "Lee? Have you ever heard of someone doing what Harold is doing?"

"I can honestly say I have not," Lee admitted as he circled his kayak back around so he could look Amanda in the eyes.

"There has to be a reason for him to do it right?"

"Right? I guess."

"What if he does all of this to keep people out. What if this is his way to be in control of who has access to the park? What if he is using the park as a base for a huge criminal operation? What if he purposely made the state mad at him so they would leave him alone which allows him to do what he wants? Can you imagine having 2200 acres of land to do as you want with? Don't you see? The state figured that without proper funding, he would bail and they could replace him. Only he doesn't need to bail because he is likely becoming richer by the minute with whatever he is doing," Amanda concluded.

Lee swiped his hand through his hair as he thought about her theory.

"You know, if you are right, then it is important for us to do one thing tonight, right?"

"What's that?" Amanda asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It means we need to stay here tonight so we can see if Louie brings another delivery of boxes. If he does, we need to see where he takes them and what is in them," Lee concluded.

 **TBC**


	21. Chapter 21 - Christmas Time in July

**Chapter 21 – Christmas Time in July**

Amanda knew that Lee had been right when he said they needed to go back. They had come this far and now it was imperative that they find out what was going on. At this point, Amanda was unsure if any of this had anything to do with Billy. It was just their duty to solve this case and maybe save the park from Harold.

They had kayaked back to the front part of the village and brought their kayaks up onto the beach. They spotted a rack for visitors to place their kayaks on and took advantage of it. By this time, both of them were starving so they made their way to a small sub shop nearby. They both ordered chicken salad subs with extra mayo and found seats facing the lake. They sat in silence as they ate their meal and enjoyed the scenery.

Afterward, they decided they needed to act like tourists so they spent the afternoon on the beach. Amanda insisted that they pop into a little drug store for sunscreen and an umbrella first though. She was a mother after all and she knew that neither of them could afford bad sunburns right now. Also, having learned her lesson the day before, Amanda was even wearing a swimsuit under her clothes. Lee picked up a pair of swim trunks in the drug store along with a couple of beach towels.

They spent the day trying to relax while swimming and lying on the beach, but they were both anxious to discover what was in the boxes. The hours ticked by slowly, but finally it was 9pm. If things were happening like they did the night before, the boat would be in the process of being loaded. Since it was a speedboat, it should be arriving at the village within the hour. They both agreed that they would only try to find out what was going on. They were lacking in the backup department so they wouldn't try to stop anything this time.

Finally just before 10pm, the speedboat could be heard in the distance making its way across the lake. They were unsure where it would go so they had picked a remote spot on the eastern side of the village. The boat suddenly came into view. They were shocked when they realized that it was heading around the village towards Harold's estate. Thinking back later, Lee realized that they should have assumed that since the boat was tied up there, it would return there. Since they had not seen evidence of the boxes from the night before, they felt the boat had delivered the boxes somewhere else.

They both began running as fast as they could but they knew they were at a disadvantage being on land. By the time they arrived at the estate and got close enough to see anything, the boat was completely unloaded. Louie and Willy were standing outside near the garage. They appeared to be in an argument. Lee and Amanda were too far away to hear what was being said, but both men were using hand gestures as they yelled at each other. Suddenly Willy took out his wallet and pulled out a handful of cash. Shoving the wad into Louie's hands, Willy then began pointing at the boat while yelling something at him. It was obvious that he was demanding that Louie should leave. When Louie didn't immediately go, Willy pulled out a gun. Louie began backing up slowly to the boat while still gesturing wildly at Willy. He finally made it to the boat and got in. In a few seconds, the boat sped past the area where Lee and Amanda were hiding as it headed back toward Lake Mirror.

Neither Lee nor Amanda dared to talk about what they had just witnessed for fear that someone would overhear them. They watched as Willy secured the garage and headed into the house. After waiting for what seemed hours even though it was only a few minutes; they headed to the garage. After making sure that the garage door was not alarmed, Lee picked the lock on the door and they snuck inside. Lee secured the door back into place while Amanda took a small flashlight out of their backpack. They made their way quickly to the back of the shop where they could see the boxes were stacked up. Amanda picked up a box and carefully opened it. They peered inside and discovered several dozen pieces of what appeared to be valuable jewelry pieces. Since neither of them were experts, it was hard to tell if it was real or not, but it all seemed to be genuine.

The next box had several fur coats in it. These also seemed to be genuine. Lee opened the largest box and discovered it was full of guns. There was no question about these items as they were definitely real. Their hearts beat faster as they continuing opening the rest of the boxes. Inside the assortment, they found various electronics, guns, and other valuables. Everything was in perfect shape but seemed out of place for a woodshop. They put everything back the way they had found it and then quietly made their way out of the garage. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts as to what they had just discovered as they made their way back to the kayaks. The moon had appeared long enough to help guide them back along the deserted beach area. Thankfully the village wasn't that big and they were able to launch the kayaks back into the water an hour later. It was a long trip back since they still didn't dare to talk about any of what had just happened. As they pulled up the landing, they were shocked to see that the speedboat had been stashed on a trailer at the edge of the woods. Would someone pick it up before morning?

They finally arrived back at their camp just before 1am. They sat outside at the picnic table and talked quietly. They needed to make sure they could hear or see anything suspicious around them while they talked.

"I don't get it!" Amanda finally blurted out, but then lowered her voice as she looked around nervously. "Harold owns a house he doesn't ever go to but he hires Louie to bring what appears to be stolen goods to the house. Only Willy isn't thrilled about having to take in these items so they argued and he drove Louie away. Last night, Louie left the boat tied up at the estate, but why did he bring it back to the park tonight? Was it not normally used to transfer boxes over there? I feel like that can't be true because Kevin had heard the boat many different nights. Why else would the boat make the trip if it wasn't transporting boxes over? What were Willy and Louie arguing about? They both seemed really mad at each other. What do they need all those things for?" Amanda finally stopped for a second to take a breath.

"Are you done?" Lee couldn't help teasing her.

"Lee!" She scolded him back.

"I know, I know," Lee said grimly as he held his hands up in mock defense. "I'm as just as much baffled about what we witnessed tonight as you are," Lee admitted as he swiped his hand through his hair. "You would think it was Christmas time and all of those items were Christmas gifts. I'm afraid I don't have answers though. I think we need to sleep on it. Maybe by morning, we'll get a fresh perspective," Lee suggested.

Amanda reluctantly agreed and they both lay down in the tent. It had been a long day so they did both finally fall into a troubled sleep.

 **TBC**


	22. Chapter 22 - A Discovery

**Chapter 22 – A Discovery**

"I don't know Lee. Are you sure it looked like stolen stuff?" Kevin asked. Lee and Amanda had decided to go visit their new friends when they woke up that morning. First they had returned the kayaks to the office and then they hiked over to the young couple's camp. They hoped the distraction would give them a much needed break and maybe things would become clearer after a fresh start of the day. After arriving at Kevin and Lorraine's campsite, they felt they could trust their two new friends. So Amanda filled them in on all they had witnessed and heard the past two days.

"I'm not sure, but why else would they have so many boxes of the same types of items?" Lee answered the question that Kevin had asked with his own question.

"I still can't get over the story about Harold," Lorraine admitted as she sipped her coffee. "I mean he is definitely weird but he has always seemed really nice. Do you think he is hard up? Maybe he turned to selling stolen goods to make enough money to afford that mansion? We help ourselves to his coffee every day. Now I feel like I should put out a jar for him to collect donations."

Lee chuckled and admittedly said "I thought originally he had let us have the coffee for free so the state would reimburse him. Guess I was all wrong on that one. If he is selling off stolen items though, I don't feel bad for him. The man owns a mansion. I really have a hard time feeling bad for him."

"We don't know that he is doing that," Amanda reminded them.

"No, but how else do you explain all that stuff? Where did it even come from? I swear this place is more of a mystery by the minute." Lee said as he began pacing.

"You pace a lot when you get frustrated, don't you?" Kevin observed out loud.

Lee grinned and said "Yeah, I guess I do. It's that noticeable, huh?"

"No, I hadn't noticed at all," Kevin answered as he burst out laughing. They all joined in and it broke up some of the tension.

"So how's the vacation going?" Amanda asked.

"We are having a lot of fun. We began exploring some of the caves yesterday. There are some fascinating things written on some of the cave walls. Some of the walls have drawings that appear to have been drawn by children. Others have many poems written all over them, while still others have letters and other memories. The saddest one for me, so far, was a letter that a nineteen year old girl left for her family who were on their way. She had suffered a foot injury during the walk and it was infected. The group she was in had left her behind to die since she could no longer walk. The letter was her final goodbye to her family. I cried while reading it." Lorraine's eyes were brimming with tears as the memory replayed in her mind again.

"It was such a dark time in our history," Kevin continued so Lorraine could compose herself. The messages left behind in these caves are so important. We are taking pictures and documenting everything. One day I will write a book about what we found here. It is important that this piece of history be preserved."

"I agree!" Amanda joined in the conversation. "I have taught my boys to treat everyone the same. Maybe when we have time, we can join you while you explore the caves."

"We are heading out in a short while. Do you want to come today?" Lorraine asked as she rejoined the conversation.

Lee and Amanda exchanged quick glances with each other. They both would have enjoyed tagging along but this case was not solved. That had to be their first priority.

"We would love to but.."

Kevin interrupted Amanda, "but you need to keep working on what is going on here. What are you? Are you cops or something?"

"No, we are not cops. We have a friend who might be tied to all of this. We are hoping that maybe if we figure out the mystery behind this place, then we will save him."

"Do you think he is dealing with stolen goods?" Lorraine had to ask.

"Oh no, Mr. Melrose would never do that!" Amanda insisted.

"Mr. Melrose? That's your friend's name? The name sounds vaguely familiar but I can't place it. Well we should get going. I hope you find your friend safely soon," Kevin said as he began packing a backpack with their supplies.

They wished the couple luck in their explorations. Then Lee took Amanda's hand as he led her down one of the trails leading to the lake. He wanted to see if the speedboat was still there. It did not surprise them when they discovered that it was gone. They could see the tracks left by the vehicle that had picked it up.

As they were standing there, suddenly they saw movement headed their way. It was circling the lake and as it came into view, they realized it was the bus. They quickly ducked behind some bushes and watched as it headed in the direction of the road it had left on the other night. After it was gone, Lee and Amanda exchanged looks and nodded at each other. Amanda voiced their thoughts by saying, "Let's go see where that bus just came from."

They walked hand and hand as if they were just out on a hike in case anyone should spot them. The bus had been heavy enough that the tracks could be seen as it had weaved the trail around the lake. Then tracks abruptly ended.

"Let me guess, the bus is a ghost too," Lee said sarcastically while Amanda had continued to poke around nearby.

"Lee, I think I found something!" Amanda said excitedly.

"What?" Lee whipped around to face the direction of Amanda's voice as she was no longer visible. "Where are you?"

"In here." Amanda answered.

"A-MAN-DA? Are you teasing me? I don't believe in ghosts you know."

Amanda popped her head out of a hole and said "I'm not teasing you! Come over here. You have to see this."

Lee followed Amanda and stood stunned as he looked around him. This was right in the middle of the State Park where anyone could stumble onto it. The problem was that unless you knew where to look, you likely would not have found it.

 **TBC**


	23. Chapter 23 - Time for an Intervention

**Chapter 23 – Time for an Intervention**

Lee hadn't known what to expect as he started to follow Amanda. She had seemingly popped up out of nowhere and then disappeared again. As he got closer to where she had disappeared, he could make out a hole that seemed to lead into a cave. It was surrounded by bushes which had hid the opening well. Amanda popped her head back out and asked impatiently, "Are you coming?"

"Yes, I'm coming." Lee said as he prepared to follow her this time. Amanda disappeared again but he heard her warn, "Watch your step _and_ duck!" Her warning came a little too late as he smashed his head in the opening which was much shorter than it had appeared. "Ouch! Amanda, that wasn't much of a warning." As he was complaining, he continued to follow her inside. Ironically, Lee discovered too late that it was a huge step down as he entered. Since he wasn't expecting it, he lost his balance and landed on the floor.

"A-MAN-DA, you should have warned me why I was watching my step." Lee whined.

After not receiving any sympathy from Amanda, he got back onto his feet. The rest of the cave was tall enough so he could stand without bending. He looked around for Amanda since she had quietly disappeared into the darkness. While he had been feeling sorry for himself and rubbing his sore head, Amanda had made use of the time by using her flashlight to locate a kerosene lantern that was nearby on a small table. Someone had left behind matches so she soon had light in the cave. As their eyes adjusted to the dim light, they realized that the cave was filled from top to bottom with boxes and household items.

Amanda began opening up some of the boxes that were nearby. It soon became clear that these boxes had the same types of items as the ones that had been delivered to Lake Delton. Where did they come from?

They both spent the next hour randomly selecting boxes to open up. Each one was filled with items more valuable than the last.

"I think we have seen enough." Lee suddenly said. "Amanda, I believe this is all stolen property and we need to let the police know it is here. This is not really our expertise so we need to let them do their job," Lee said grimly.

"Yeah, you are probably right." Amanda nodded in agreement, "Do you think any of this is tied to what happened to Billy? I would hate to think we are putting him at risk by reporting this."

"I don't know, but I think it is a chance we have to take."

They extinguished the lantern and left the cave. They decided the best thing to do was to go back to the office and use the phone to call the police.

When they arrived at the office, they discovered that Marcia was in charge of the office again. They found her in the chair outside working on her tan.

"Hey sexy," she said as soon as she saw him. "I noticed you brought back the kayaks early this morning but didn't even stop in to say hi. Didn't you want to talk to me?" Marcia asked as she gave him a pouting face.

Lee realized he was on a slippery slope so he suggested Amanda go make the call as he handed her some change. He then grabbed Marcia's arm and pulled her inside so she wouldn't overhear the call.

"Well darling, of course I wanted to talk to you. You have to understand though; I'm with my girlfriend here. We wouldn't want her to catch on that there is anything going on between us, right?"

Marcia's face lit up like a light bulb and Lee immediately realized he had gone too far. Why did women always fall for the dumbest lines?

"Well ditch her. We don't need her hanging around anyway."

Lee tried to think quickly as to how to fix this and breathed a sigh of relief when Amanda walked into the office. She smiled as she noticed how uncomfortable he looked.

"Lee, sweetie, I called my mother and she is going to meet us shortly. I told her that we would show her the sights after she gets here."

Marcia had begun rubbing her hand over Lee's bare arm and he couldn't figure out a way to get her to stop. "That's great!" he croaked out as he felt more uncomfortable by the minute. "We should really get going then. We wouldn't want to keep her waiting."

Amanda considered allowing things to continue, but realized that this was not the time for such silly games. "I think that would be the best plan," she agreed.

Just as Lee was trying to figure out a way politely remove Marcia's roving hand, a young man walked into the office. "Hi Marcia!" He greeted her with a big smile, but then scowled when he saw the two of them.

"Oh hi Walter. What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Louie, have you seen him around?" he asked as he continued to glare at Lee and Amanda.

"Nope, he's been away all day. Why do you hang out with him?" Marcia asked.

"That's none of your business!" Walter said angrily as he focused his attention on her. Then he remembered that they weren't alone and looked nervously back at Lee and Amanda again.

"Let's just say we are partners and leave it at that." Walter declared as Lee and Amanda decided it was best that they leave.

"Who are those people?" Walter demanded after he thought they were out of earshot.

"They are just a couple of our guests? Geesh, what's your problem?" Marcia asked.

"I just don't like them. They interrupted Louie and I the other day when we were having an important meeting. They seem to have their noses where they don't belong." Walter insisted.

Amanda and Lee had paused outside the door to listen for a minute. They had exchanged knowing looks when Walter had walked in. They had both been right in thinking this was the man who had been arguing with Louie at the picnic table the other day. They hurried away from the office and made it back to their camp in record time.

"Okay, so if Willy is Louie's partner and Walter is Louie's partner, how many partners does Louie have?" Amanda pondered as she looked at Lee to see if he had any answers.

"Well don't forget the bus driver. My guess is that he is a partner too. I also think Harold is the ringleader of the whole thing," Lee suggested. "Amanda, where are we supposed to meet the police?"

"They told me to meet them by the lake. They were very interested in what we had to show them and said that it might confirm what they have been investigating for months," Amanda said.

"Really? I can't wait to hear all about it. Let's go!" Lee said as he held out his hand for her. Maybe they would finally start to get some answers.

 **TBC**


	24. Chapter 24 - Wait, What?

**Chapter 24 – Wait, What?**

Lee began to lead Amanda down the trail that would provide them the fastest route to the lake. Suddenly, almost by instinct, he changed his mind and headed down a trail they hadn't used before. Amanda was lost in her own thoughts so she didn't question Lee's sudden change of mind. They had only been walking for ten minutes when they suddenly heard angry voices at one of the campsites. At first, they didn't want to intrude so they sped up to avoid overhearing anything that was being said. As they got closer, they couldn't help but glance over to see who it was. Amanda let out a gasp as she realized it was the three men who had unloaded the bus and loaded the boxes onto the speedboat. Lee quickly shoved her into some nearby bushes. He put his finger to his lip and whispered, "Shhh, I don't think they saw us."

Amanda nodded in agreement and they began listening intently to the conversation.

"I'm telling you, I'm tired of being forced to work like I'm a slave." From their hiding spot, they could easily hear the conversation from the threesome. The biggest of the three men was talking. "We were promised a lot of money if we did all this work for him, but he keeps making up excuses why he can't pay us more. On top of that, he sticks us in a tent. He should be paying to put us up in hotel rooms instead. Especially considering how much work we have done for him."

"He's too cheap for that. It isn't like we haven't seen where he spends his time but he loves weaving the 'I'm so poor' story for everyone," the man with the long beard said sarcastically and then continued angrily, "I quit my job to do this work full time. I would almost be making more money working at the factory right now instead of doing all this heavy lifting. It sure would be less laborious too. We are the ones taking all the risks too if we get caught. He keeps saying that it will go back onto him and that he will protect us. He really believes we are that stupid to believe that!"

"I personally am sick and tired of him treating us like slaves. Just because this area is part of the Underground Railroad, it doesn't mean that he can treat us like we were one of those who used it. I truly believe that he thinks he owns this park, so he can push us around and treat us however he wants. What would he do if we all quit today? I am about ready to tell him I'm done just so I can watch him squirm. He knows he would be in trouble. He knows he wouldn't be so high and mighty if he didn't deliver the goods on time. Yes, it would be a lot of fun to leave him facing the consequences if we refused to work anymore," the third man with the glasses said with a chuckle.

The big man responded by saying, "Maybe it's time to kill him. We could convince his contact to let us take over. There are plenty of products to take to him. We don't need that jerk boss taking all our money." To emphasize his point, the big man slammed his hand down on the picnic table as he finished his thoughts.

"You are forgetting one thing though," the man with the glasses tried to remind them.

"I'm not forgetting anything. I say we kill him. We could easily make it look like an accident. Plenty of people don't like him already. By the time they figure out that it wasn't an accident, we could have all the stuff transported and paid for. What do you say boys? Let's do it!"

The man with the glasses reminded them again that they were forgetting something.

"What? What could we possibly be forgetting?" the big man asked.

"Jacob, you are forgetting Jacob."

Amanda and Lee looked at each other and mouthed "Jacob?" Neither of them knew who that could be. They realized that the three men had begun fighting again so they took it as their chance to get moving. If they didn't get to the lake soon, the police officer would think this was a prank and leave.

They hurried along the trail and arrived just as the officer was getting back into his unmarked car.

"Wait!" Amanda cried out. The man got out of his car and walked toward them. "Amanda? Are you Amanda King?" he asked.

When they saw that the man was getting ready to leave, they had ran the last part of the trail and were a little winded by the time they reached the officer. Amanda struggled to get her breath back but managed to say "Yes, I'm Amanda."

"I thought maybe this was a hoax. I'm Officer Rodney. We spoke on the phone." Rodney offered his hand to Amanda and then to Lee warmly shaking both their hands.

"We are sorry we were late but we stumbled onto the three men who helped with what we are about to show you. They were arguing right now at a campsite nearby so we stopped to eavesdrop."

Officer Rodney raised a brow at Lee and said, "That is very dangerous. I think you need to show me what you found and then let me take it from here." Lee remembered that Rodney didn't know who they were. He said "I'm going to slowly pull out a badge from my pocket." He then reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his agency badge. Rodney looked it over for a minute and then said "You are a long ways from home son."

"We were searching for our boss and came here following a lead. We stumbled onto this tangled mess instead. Since we didn't feel we should walk away, we decided we needed to figure out what was going on and we were hoping somehow the two were connected," Lee explained as he swiped his hand through his hair.

Rodney handed Lee back his badge and said "Well we appreciate the help. Why don't you show me what you found?"

After making sure it looked like they were alone, Amanda and Lee led Rodney to the cave. He let them lead the way inside. After Amanda lit the lantern, Rodney shrilled out a low whistle. "I'm so excited you found this. We had a feeling they were hiding the stuff here somewhere but we never could find this cave. We have been working on this case for such a long time. This man has gotten away with a lot against this community. It will be so refreshing to finally be able to bring him to justice."

"So are these items all stolen goods?" Amanda asked.

"They sure are. I don't want to discuss that here though. Can you both come down to the Police Department with me and fill out a report? I can go over everything then where we don't have to worry about being overheard."

"Of course," they both said at once.

Lee couldn't contain himself though and offered, "I knew this stuff was stolen. It all makes sense now. This is why he won't allow the park to be opened for tours. He probably helped create the tale of the park being haunted just to scare people away. We were suspicious of him right from the beginning, but we couldn't figure out what he was up to. He was determined to convince us not to stay here. If he knew who we really were, I'm sure he would have tried even harder."

Amanda had been quiet while Lee gloated about being right about Harold. She finally said "Lee? I still don't understand. What does this have to do with Billy and why did someone go to all the trouble to get us to come here?"

Lee's smile faded quickly as he realized that she was right.

"Who's Billy?" Rodney asked.

"His name is Billy Melrose and he is our boss that we mentioned. We can explain later but someone did a lot of work to get us to leave DC to come here. We are no closer to understanding why then we were before. Have you ever heard of Billy?" Amanda asked.

Rodney thought for a moment and then answered "I'm sorry, the name truly does not ring a bell. I wish it did since you just helped me hopefully break this case wide open. We are in the homestretch now. We just need to catch him with the goods and then we can bring him in for questioning. I think he will break pretty easy once we show him all the evidence. I can't thank you enough for all your help."

"Sir, I'm not sure you will catch Harold with these items. He seems to have his hired hands doing all the work. Those three men that we were telling you about were extremely irate with him though so if you put pressure on them, they might talk," Amanda suggested.

"Yeah, I wouldn't plan on catching Harold with his hand in the cookie jar. The man is very weird but I think he is much smarter than we have given him credit for. No, you are likely going to need to lay a trap for him. We can help if you like. I'm still hoping that he can provide us the information we need," Lee offered.

Rodney had stood listening to them both. His face showed more and more confusion. As Lee and Amanda finished explaining, Rodney voiced his confusion. "Harold? Who's Harold? I don't know any one by that name involved in this. Don't you mean Louie?"

 **TBC**

.


	25. Chapter 25 - A Tangled Mess

**Chapter 25 – A Tangled Mess**

After Officer Rodney made his announcement that he didn't know who Harold was, Lee and Amanda struggled to make sense of everything. They had exchanged hard looks with each other immediately after they heard this new information, but neither of them seemed to be able to comprehend what had just happened.

"Wait, what? So you were talking about Louie this whole time?" Lee finally managed to sputter out as he quickly swiped his hand through his hair. "You think Louie is the brains to all of this? Come on, the kid is an idiot."

"LEE!" Amanda scolded him. "Officer Rodney, we are really confused. Harold runs this park. He has been here forever. Is it possible that you have made a mistake?"

"I don't think so. Look, let's go down to headquarters and talk this out there," Rodney suggested. They all agreed that it was the best thing to do.

After making sure the lantern was out, they made their way back out of the cave. It was a quick walk back to Rodney's car and then they were on their way to the Police Department. No one said anything on the drive there. Once they were inside an interrogation room, Lee let loose.

"I don't mean to tell you how to do your job, but you have the wrong guy. Harold runs that park. Harold makes all the decisions. No one could possibly be involved in smuggling goods in there without Harold knowing about it. There is no way that Louie is the head of this operation. He's an immature kid. He has ridden on Harold's coattails this whole time and that is the only reason he even has a job there. I'm telling you, someone messed up with this thing," Lee insisted.

"Are you done?" Rodney asked with an amused grin.

Lee slumped into the chair beside the one Amanda had sat down in and said "Yeah, I guess so."

"Good! Let me tell you what we know and then maybe it will make more sense. So about a year ago, we started getting complaints from the residents in some of the neighboring towns that things were disappearing from their homes. At first, it was just small things, but over time, they became more valuable things. No one could figure out who was taking them or how they managed to know what to take. The victim was usually an older, wealthy person. So we tried to track it down that way but came up empty. Then one day we got a break because old Mr. Streeter's VHS player was stolen. Mr. Streeter can be a little senile but he had just purchased that VHS player the day before. He was so proud of it so he showed it to everyone on the bus on his way home. Later on, many of the bus passengers that day came forward to confirm that they had seen it. The next day, Mr. Streeter reported it was missing. Of course we thought at first that he had misplaced it. We helped him search his whole house and couldn't find it."

Officer Rodney paused to catch his breath as he was excited that he might finally be able to close this case. He continued, "Well, a few days later, Mrs. Breasley reported some jewelry missing. Her favorite aunt had just died and willed several valuable pieces to her. She carried the box with her for days as she grieved the death of her aunt. She had to be away for a few days so she decided to leave the box on her kitchen table where it would be safe. When she got home, the box was gone. It was all beginning to make sense especially as the stories continued with more and more people coming forward to report missing items. We would ask them when they last saw their items and it always came back to the same answer."

"What answer? I don't understand," Amanda admitted. "What made sense? Who was doing it? Louie?"

"Why Jacob, of course," Officer Rodney stated.

"Jacob? Those three men at the campsite mentioned him too. Who is Jacob?" Amanda asked.

"He drives a bus. In fact he drives the only bus within 50 miles. I'm surprised you haven't met him," Rodney explained.

Amanda felt the prickles of goose bumps beginning to form on her arms at the mention of the bus driver. "So are you saying that Jacob went around stealing all that stuff from people? How is that possible?"

"Oh you would have to know the people who live around here. They are trusting souls. Most don't bother locking up their homes even when they sleep. We finally figured out that Jacob had started a smuggling partnership with Louie. I'm sure all of it was Jacob's idea originally. He had the access to the goods, but he didn't have a way to hide the stuff. I'm sure those three men that you saw are the ones they hired to go into the homes and actually steal the items. Jacob has them load it into his bus where we believe he stores everything in the back while he does his routes until he can sneak it into the park. When people try to sit near the back, he always tells them that he has items that he has to deliver back there and asks them to sit near the front. The men are more than likely at his beck and call as the jobs are usually not able to be planned ahead of time. This is probably part of the reason why they are angry. I'm also sure the three of them are not paid nearly enough for taking all the risks that they do. Louie and Jacob use those men to keep suspicion off themselves. Once it becomes dark enough, Jacob probably picks them up so they can unload all the items into the cave. We believe that Louie and Jacob tell those helpers just enough to keep them interested but not enough of the operation so they could take over any kind of control. What we are pretty sure of is that they load the boat at night, but then Louie delivers all of it to Lake Delton. Again, that keeps anyone else from knowing his contacts. We did track Louie one night to Lake Delton so we knew the stuff was being stored at the estate until Louie's contact received it. The problem has been that we couldn't locate where they hid it in the park. We were always concerned that if we tried to follow the bus, they would move the operation. That is why your discovery is so huge for us."

Lee had gotten up while Rodney was talking and begun pacing. As Rodney finished his explanation, Lee confirmed witnessing that the operation seemed to run exactly as Rodney had described. Then he stated, "So then they deliver it to Willie who is their contact and he is likely the true brains of this thing. I'm telling you, it isn't Louie."

"Actually Willie was forced into this scheme. Office Rodney continued explaining. "It turns out that Louie was blackmailing Willie. At one time, we thought that Willie might be in charge also, so we brought him in for questioning and put a lot of pressure on him. We found out that Louie had learned that Willie was trying to take possession of Louie's uncle's estate. He had hired a lawyer to try to prove that the uncle is suffering from a mental illness. Louie used that information to force Willie to store the boxes in the garage until they could be moved safely to his contact who would then sell the goods on the black market. After we talked to Willie, he got scared and told us that he had no idea that the boxes contained stolen goods. We tried to convince him to help us, but we didn't have any evidence really to hold him otherwise, so he was allowed to leave. As we staked out the estate the following night, we witnessed the two of them have a huge blowout. In the end, Willie threw Louie off the estate and told him not to come back. We believe that the only thing Willie is really guilty of is trying to orchestrate the theft of the estate by trying to prove that Louie's uncle is mentally unstable.

Amanda's mind was on overload by now. "You have to slow down. This is too much. I have never seen anything like this. It's crazy. I feel like we walked into the middle of a tv mystery show," She insisted.

"I don't understand, where did I lose you?" Rodney asked.

Lee stepped in and offered "With just about everything you just said."

Amanda took back over and said "Let's start over. Are you talking about the big estate on the backside of the village? Is that the estate that belongs to Louie's uncle?"

"Of course. It is really the only estate there," Rodney confirmed.

Amanda looked at Lee before continuing. "Harold owns the estate. That means that Harold is Louie's uncle. If he is his uncle though, how does he not know about this smuggling thing? Willie was trying to take the estate away? I guess that does make sense. He seemed very angry that Harold didn't seem to care about the place. Harold seems very unstable at times so it would be possible to maybe convince a judge that he is having mental issues. We also witnessed the night that Willie threw Louie off the property. We could see they were arguing, but didn't know why. Now that makes sense too. Wow, this really is a tangled mess."

Lee kept shaking his head in disbelief as he blurted out, "It really is like being a part of a Scooby-Doo mystery, only much more complicated. I keep wondering when the ghosts are going to begin chasing us." Lee made a weak attempt at some humor.

"Well now that we have the location of the cave, we can start to tighten up the nooses on the remaining people involved. In fact, I can't wait to bring Walter in next to question him," Rodney gushed while seemingly not noticing the Scooby-Doo reference.

"Walter? Oh yeah, right, Walter," Amanda remembered that he was another one of Louie's partners. "What part does he play in all of this?" she ventured to ask.

"Why he's Louie's fence of course."

 **TBC**


	26. Ch26-Sometimes You Need to Take Babystep

**Chapter 26 – Sometimes you Need to Take Baby Steps  
**

"What did you say?" Amanda asked Officer Rodney.

"That I can't wait to question Walter?" Rodney answered while raising an eyebrow at Amanda.

"No, you called him the fence. Lee, he called him the fence! We've been looking for the wrong kind of fence this whole time," Amanda said excitedly as she began digging through her purse.

"Well that's what he is. He buys all the stolen goods for a portion of what they are worth. Then, he resells them on the black-market for a lot of money. Why? What's going on?" Rodney asked since it was his turn to be confused.

"Ah-ha!" Amanda said as she pulled out the paper that had the poem on it. She cleared her throat to read it out loud so Rodney could hear it. It had been a while since she and Lee had studied it too, so it was good to refresh their memories.

"There once was a man named Billy.

Taking him for granted was silly.

Billy was a great boss.

His death would be a huge loss.

He's counting on both of you

And Francine too.

The map is your first clue,

It might take awhile so don't be blue.

Study it hard,

Don't let down your guard

And suddenly things will begin to make sense,

especially when you find the fence.

It is in your hands now

But beware of men crying foul.

You are Billy's last hope,

You need to find the dope.

The truth will set him free

And happy everyone will be.

So take a chance

And enjoy this dance."

"So this whole time we were looking for a fence in a field. When in actuality it wasn't a physical fence at all. I can't believe I never realized it could be a person. Of course that part makes sense now. A person who deals in stolen goods is called a fence," Lee agreed in disbelief as he swiped his hand through his hair once again.

"I don't understand what this is all about. Can someone please explain it to me?" Officer Rodney said.

Amanda and Lee took turns filling him in on the events that had led up to their obeying a command to come by train to this area. They explained about the phone call, the poem and how they believed that Billy was still alive. They told Officer Rodney how they believed that somehow the key to what happened to him was waiting to be discovered in the park.

It was Rodney's turn to look stunned as he listened to their tale. Their story seemed almost unbelievable. Meanwhile Amanda had gone back to studying the poem.

"So we determined the secret of the map was the Underground Railroad and the fact that there were caves there. A cave was being used to store the stolen goods. Now we have found the fence; Walter. That means things are supposed to _now_ make sense. So, why don't they? I seem more lost than ever," Amanda admitted as she looked up from the paper to look at Lee. She could tell that he was just as puzzled as she was.

"Do you think the men crying foul are the three laborers?" Rodney asked as he studied the poem over her shoulder.

"I don't know, but it sounds like Louie might be fleeing. We are supposed to find the dope. That's gotta mean Louie! Do you have enough to arrest him before that happens?" Lee asked.

"No, we need to catch him red-handed in the act," Rodney said in frustration.

"Can you put a tail on him so he can't just take off without us knowing where he goes?" Lee suggested.

"I think that shouldn't be a problem since you found the cave with the stolen items," Officer Rodney nodded in agreement. "We can't lose him now when we are this close to solving this thing!"

Amanda had been silent for the past few minutes as she was lost in thought. Lee noticed and said "I know that look. What are you thinking about?"

"I don't know what any of this has to do with Billy. I'm just disappointed that we seem to be nearing the end of this mystery, but we still don't have all the answers. The worse part is that Billy is still missing and it doesn't feel like we are any closer to finding him. He could be dead after all and this was just some sort of sick game someone played on us?" Amanda said as she tried to keep her emotions from erupting into tears in front of the two men.

Lee put his hand on top of hers to comfort her. He would have liked to have wrapped her in a hug to comfort her. Feeling awkward doing that in front of the officer, he decided against it. "We're not giving up until we find him," Lee assured her instead. She looked up at him gratefully and smiled. "Thanks Lee!" She said with sincerity "So what do we do now?" Amanda pressed on.

"I think I need to get you folks back to the park before someone notices you are missing. Here's my card in case you hear or see anything else. I know you are agency folk but please don't play the hero. Call me first for backup, okay?" Rodney said while not trying to disguise the plea in his voice.

Amanda took the card and put it in her purse. "We will call you Officer Rodney," she assured him.

Rodney agreed to drive them back to the park. Amanda found herself lost in her thoughts again while Lee and Rodney made small talk. Suddenly Rodney slammed on his brakes and did a u-turn in the middle of the road.

Amanda focus immediately snapped back to what was going on in front of her. "What's going on?" she asked as she struggled to understand what had just happened.

Before Rodney could answer, Lee pointed to the vehicle in front of them. It was a sixteen foot moving truck. "We are following that truck," Lee explained excitedly.

Amanda crinkled up her nose as she stared at the unmarked truck. Still trying to comprehend what was going on, she continued questioning Lee, "I don't understand. Why are we following that truck?"

"Well if we are lucky, we are about to catch Walter red handed with a lot of stolen items," Lee explained. At that moment, Officer Rodney turned on his blue lights and siren and the chase was on.

 **TBC**


	27. Chapter 27 - Ready to Sing

**Chapter 27 – Ready to Sing**

As soon as Walter saw the blue lights go on, he sped up. There was very little traffic though and no place for him to hide such a big truck. It didn't take long before he realized he wasn't going to be able to outrun them, so he pulled over.

"Stay in the car," Officer Rodney told both Lee and Amanda.

Amanda couldn't help but smile at Lee and say, "Gee, where have I heard that before?"

Lee chuckled as he watched the officer approach the truck with his gun drawn. In no time, he had Walter out of the truck with his hands handcuffed behind his back while reading him his rights. Rodney left Walter up against the hood of the truck while he made his way to the back. He lifted the tailgate, looked inside for a moment and then gave Lee and Amanda a thumbs up sign. The truck was crammed full of merchandise

Officer Rodney put the tailgate back down and then retrieved Walter. As they returned to the unmarked police car, Lee offered to drive the moving truck back to the station. Grateful for the offer, Rodney accepted. Lee helped Amanda out of the car and they made their way into the truck's cab. They followed behind the officer as they all made the trip back to the station.

"Well this is all working out nicely for him. He will probably even get an award for finally solving this case and putting all those men behind bars where they belong," Lee smugly said.

"That would be nice," Amanda said while seemingly distracted.

"Amanda? What's wrong?" Lee asked.

"Do you think Officer Rodney would let us talk to Walter?"

"I don't know, maybe. What would you want to talk to him about?" a confused Lee asked.

"I would like to see his reaction when we bring up Billy," Amanda stated.

"That might be a good idea," Lee nodded in agreement just as they pulled into the station's parking lot. After getting a guard to stand watch over the truck, Officer Rodney guided Walter inside. He motioned for Lee and Amanda to go into the room next to the interrogation room that they had just vacated a short time ago. Lee was impressed when he realized it had a double mirror in it. As Officer Rodney pushed Walter into the interrogation room, they realized that they could also hear what was going on.

"Sit down," the officer said to Walter as he pointed to a chair. Walter slumped into the chair and mumbled "You ain't got nothing on me so you better let me go. I want my lawyer."

"Oh, your lawyer is on the way but I thought you might want to talk to me before he gets here. You see Walter; I don't think you are the brains of this operation. So as much as it would be fun to nail you, I would rather nail the one who is calling the shots," Officer Rodney explained.

Walter sneered and asked "Oh and who do you think is the boss? Wait? Why don't you think it is me, anyway? I'm perfectly capable of running this operation."

"Maybe, but I don't think so. I think your partner called all the shots and left you and the workers to take all the risks. It doesn't really matter what I think though because the townspeople are hungry to find a guilty party. I just arrested you with a load of evidence. I'm not much of a betting man, but I'll bet that if I asked people to come down to identify their stuff, we would have plenty of proof that your whole load is stolen. Should I make that bet?" Officer Rodney said with a smirk. He wasn't done though and continued, "Since all those things were in your possession, no one will really care if you worked with anyone else or not. They will love that we have found the guilty party. They will love watching you be sentenced for all the heartache they have suffered from these thefts. Meanwhile, you buddy will sneak away completely free. The only thing that matters to me is I can say I solved the case. I'm also going to bet that your partner will realize the area is too hot now. He will just move on to another area. All of the thefts will stop and my job will become easy again. Meanwhile, you will be sitting in a jail cell for the rest of your life. I'm not sure how well you learned math, but I'm going to tell you that a lifetime is a very long time. So, it is noble that you want to keep your partner's identity a secret. I'm sure he will really appreciate it. I wouldn't expect him to thank you though since he wouldn't want to incriminate himself. So son, you sit tight and think about what I just said," Officer Rodney suggested as he stood up. "You will have to excuse me as I need to use the men's room." Rodney abruptly walked out of the room without letting Walter utter a single word.

Amanda looked at Lee and mouthed "Wow!" Lee grinned and said, "He's good. We should get him to work at the agency."

A few seconds later, Rodney entered the room. By that time, they were enjoying watching Walter squirm. Rodney walked over to join them.

"You are a good interrogator!" Amanda exclaimed. Rodney beamed a bit and then blushed. "I'm only good if it worked," he said as he watched Walter get up and begin pacing. He hit the wall a few times with his fist and then leaned his head against the wall and stood still. "I think it will do him some good to think about things," Rodney said as he watched the distressed man as he slammed the wall a few more times.

"We do have a favor to ask," Amanda ventured.

"Oh? What's that?" Rodney asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Lee answered before Amanda could, "We want to talk to him."

"Why?" Rodney asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"We want to question him about Billy and see if he knows anything," Lee continued to explain. "Amanda thinks that he might at least show a reaction if he recognizes the name."

"I see. It might work especially with him working himself up like he is," Rodney chucked as he watched Walter try to pick up one of the chairs so he could throw it. The chair was securely bolted to the floor. Realizing the chair couldn't be moved, Walter became so angry that he kicked it as hard as he could. He cried out in anguish as he slumped into the chair holding his badly bruised foot.

"Maybe I'd better go back in there before he hurts himself," Rodney said with a chuckle..

As the officer walked back into the interrogation room, Walter cried out desperately, "Look man, he'll kill me if I tell you who he is."

"Oh and you don't think he will find a way to kill you in here if he thinks you talked? Do you know how easy it would be to let the community know that you have been captured and are singing names loud and clear? The newspapers have been begging me for an update. This sort of news story always seems to sell newspapers so well too. Imagine how quickly the word would get out. I'm guessing it wouldn't take twenty-four hours for someone to silence you, even inside a jail cell. If you help us out, we'll offer you protection and keep you safe. I'm running out of time and patience though. What is your decision Walter?"

"You promise to keep me safe?" Walter demanded.

Rodney looked Walter in the eye and reassuringly said, "Yeah man, I'll keep you safe if you tell me what I want to know. Do you want some coffee before we get started?"

"That would be great!" Walter said gratefully. "I take mine black"

Officer Rodney poured them both a cup of coffee from the pot in the corner. After sitting the steaming mugs down on the table, he produced a cassette player from his pocket. He placed it in the middle of the table and then took a seat across from Walter. After turning on the player, he said "Go ahead, start talking. I'm listening."

"What do you want to know?" Walter asked.

"All of it!" Officer Rodney stated flatly.

For the next hour Walter reconfirmed much of what they already knew. However, he also was able to explain a little of how the whole thing got started.

"I just want you to know that I was only part of the stolen goods operation. I never had a hand in anything else that was going on."

"There's more going on?" Officer Rodney asked.

"Oh yeah! I was told that it all started back a few years ago. The man who runs Lake Mirror State Park was having a hard time keeping help. The pay was awful and he expected his helper to work long hours with no overtime. Anyone he hired, didn't last more than a week. So one day his nephew, Louie was visiting him and asked if he was hiring. Louie told him that he knew the pay was low, but that he just wanted an outdoor job. He had been working in a restaurant and felt trapped inside. Well, Ole Harold was so excited to finally get someone to help him plus it was his nephew. He didn't realize that Louie had already checked the place over. He was excited about all the caves in the park and a plan was already formulating about how they would make great hiding places. I guess he knew Jacob from childhood. They hadn't been friends or anything, but they got along. Jacob has a reputation of being a bad boy. Why do you think not many ride his bus? His regulars consist mostly of the rich elderly who can no longer drive. None of them seem to care about Jacob's reputation or perhaps they just don't realize just how unsafe it is to be around him. His old man got him that bus route right after he dropped out of high school. He had a little money saved up and bought Jacob the bus to keep him out of trouble. I think at first, Jacob did try to make a legitimate living driving the bus. It didn't take him long to realize that there was much more money to be made doing other things. He began to realize how easy it would be to steal things from others. After all, most of his regulars had money. They also were old and some were senile. They wouldn't miss a few things, and if they did, people would think they just misplaced the objects. He took just small stuff at first. He thought that it would take longer for items to be missed if they were seemingly unimportant things. It was an easy task, but not very profitable. Then one day, Louie had a flat tire on the way to work so he hopped onto the bus. He was the only one on it that morning and soon the two of them struck up a conversation. Having known each other as kids, Jacob sensed that he could convince Louie to be his partner. I was told that they shook on it that day. All they were missing then was someone to sell the items to."

"So that's where you came in, huh? Where did you come from?" Officer Rodney asked as Walter took a huge gulp of his coffee. Walter had begun to seem a little rattled from the memories.

"Actually I had just gotten out of jail in New York City. I grew up in the ghetto and the only way my family kept from starving was from me stealing things. I got busted though. I figured this time I would be the fence so that I would have less of a risk," Walter admitted.

"That didn't seem to work out too well for you, did it?" Before Walter could answer, Rodney asked, "How do you know that the information about Louie and Jacob that you just told me is true?"

"Oh, they are both men who like to brag about themselves. They both shared this story with me one night while we were all in a bar. We had managed to obtain several rather expensive pieces of artwork from the Greer estate. I had a buyer who was very interested in those pieces and promised me a million dollars if I could get them. It was like taking candy from a baby and we split the money three ways with that one. We were so excited that everything out worked out so well, that we decided to take a chance and celebrate together. We drove to another town so that no one would recognize us. That was the night that I found out that Louie and Jacob were involved in more than just stolen merchandise."

"Oh, and what more is there?" Officer Rodney pressed on since this was the second time he had mentioned that there was something else.

"They had begun to get involved with dealing drugs. They asked me if I wanted in on the action, and I told them absolutely not. I don't like drugs. They laughed at me and called me a girl. We were all pretty drunk by then so we got into a huge fight in the bar. They kicked us out and the fight continued in the street in front of the bar. We only left when we heard the sirens. After that, I didn't want anything more to do with them but I was in too deep and they had too much on me. The only thing I could do was to insist that they deliver the stuff to me. They had to bring the items to Lake Delton and I kept myself scarce until I could move the items the next day to my contacts. Louie strong-armed his uncle's caretaker into letting us hide the stuff at the estate. The man does wood crafting as a hobby so his workshop was always full of stuff everywhere. No one questioned all the additional boxes. Louie would bring the stuff over at night and put it in the back of the shop. Early the next morning, I would come load it into my truck and sell it on the black market. Things have been slowly falling apart though. Jacob has become more and more greedy. Louie seems out of control. His uncle, who has made a lot of enemies over the park, seems to have become very mentally unstable. On top of that, the three laborers that do all the actual work are on the verge of quitting if they are not paid more. They have threatened to go to the police with evidence against all of us. I began giving Louie more money for the stuff but then found out that it wasn't being passed along to the workers. Meanwhile, Willie the caretaker finally got brave enough to kick Louie off the estate. That left us without a location to drop the stuff in Lake Delton and store it until it could be safely moved. The whole thing operation seems to have become a huge mess," Walter explained in a pitiful voice.

"I truly hope you are not thinking I feel sorry for you," Officer Rodney reminded him that he wasn't on his side. "So since you lost the estate, is that the reason you were hauling the stuff in a moving truck?"

"Yeah, I was told where the cave was that had all the remaining items in it. They told me that I had until the end of the week to move it all. Without the estate, it would be too hard to sneak the stuff in and out of the park without someone noticing. Louie told me that he couldn't keep people away from the area for long so the quicker I got it moved, the less chance we would be caught. This was my third trip when you spotted me," Walter admitted.

"So what is their plan? Did they decide the money from the paintings satisfied them for now?" Officer Rodney asked.

"Oh, no, not at all. They just decided they would rather take the risks with moving drugs than with stolen goods. It is easier to deal with them since they are easier to hide and transport," Walter informed him.

"Are they intending to continue to use the park for the drugs?" Rodney questioned further. He couldn't believe how much Walter was telling him. It was all adding up though so he was trying to keep his excitement out of his voice as the missing puzzle pieces were being filled in.

"Yes, they definitely are. The park is perfect for this type of thing. It has been one of Louie's proudest moments being able to pull all of this off in front of everyone. He keeps his uncle convinced that people want to come in and destroy the park, so the old man refuses to allow them to make it into a tourist spot. Ole Harold fights everyone tooth and nail over it in fact. Louie knows that his uncle loves that park more than anything else in his life. He has sworn to keep it pristine to the point that many people are convinced that Harold is crazy. If anyone challenges him or seems to be disgracing the park in any way, Harold will do everything in his power to drive them out."

Amanda and Lee exchanged looks as they listened. Without saying a word, they both knew what the other was thinking. Lee took Amanda's hand and led her out of the room. As they entered the interrogation room, he reluctantly let go of her hand.

"Sorry to interrupt Office Rodney. We were wondering if we could ask a few questions," Amanda stated as they barged in on the interrogation.

Rodney wasn't expecting them to come in before he invited them, but he kept his composure and agreed.

They both took seats at the other end of the table. After introducing themselves as agents for the record since it was being recorded, Amanda asked the first question. "You said that Harold would do anything to keep people out of the park. Does that mean he did make up the stories about the park being haunted?"

"Oh no, he didn't do that. He hates those stories. It takes away the beauty of the park for him. He also hates the whole Underground Railroad history being connected to the park. That's another reason why he fights them turning it into a tourist spot. He just wants it to be like any other state park. A quiet camping area that has fishing, kayaking, and hiking for activities. Those activities don't pay the bills though," Walter explained.

"So none of the loud noises, lights at night or things that go bump in the night were created by him? Do you believe in ghosts Walter?"

"Me? Nah, most of those stories Louie made up to scare people away. He couldn't take the risk of people going inside the caves after he began using them for storage. You add a crazy manager into the mix and most people find other places to stay. With its history, the park has always had historical rumors of being haunted, so it was easy to convince people that it really was. Of course some people visited because of those stories. Others are there for the Underground Railroad. Harold usually manages to get most of them to leave after just a few days though. If that fails, playing eerie sounds at night usually convinces most people to leave. We need some visitors though so that the state doesn't shut the place down," Walter finished explaining.

Amanda took a picture out of her purse and slid it across the table to Walter. Everyone studied him as he studied the picture.

"Do you recognize him?" She asked Walter.

They all held their breaths as they waited for his reaction. He looked up with no recognition in his eyes and asked "No, should I know him? Was he part of the Underground Railroad or something?"

 **TBC**

"


	28. Ch28-Returning to the Scene of the Crime

**Chapter 28 – Returning to the Scene of the Crime**

Realizing there was nothing more to ask, they left the interrogation room so Rodney could finish up with Walter. As they began walking toward the front desk, Amanda felt weak. Lee noticed that her face had become pale and guided her to a chair in the front entrance. As they sat side by side, Lee put his arm around Amanda's shoulder and pulled her closer so he could comfort her.

"I just don't understand. How could he not know him? Why are we here? Surely someone didn't decide to use Billy's death just to get closure on a stolen goods case," Amanda said in a soft voice.

"I don't know. There has to be something we are missing. Will you be okay for a minute? I want to call Francine and see if there is any news," Lee said as he looked in her eyes to make sure she was really okay before getting up.

She bravely nodded and said, "Please call Francine. Maybe she has been trying to reach us and has some information for us."

Lee walked to the front desk and spoke to the receptionist. He told her who he was and showed her his badge. She remembered him arriving with Officer Rodney. He asked her if she could provide a list of the people involved in the Mirror Lake State Park Case. He needed the last names before he made his phone call. It took her a few minutes and a few calls, but she was finally able to produce the list. Then, he walked to the nearby payphone and called the Agency's 800 number. He was immediately transferred to Francine's direct line.

"Lee? Is that really you? Are you and Amanda alright? I was ready to ask the local police to go check in on you," Francine said with obvious concern in her voice.

"We are fine Francine. I'm sorry that we haven't had time to call sooner. Is there any word on Billy or the case?" Lee asked while trying to remain hopeful.

"I'm afraid not. We keep coming up with dead ends here. What about you?" Francine asked while realizing he wouldn't be asking her if he had good news.

"Nothing. I do have some names to run through the agency's computer for me. Can you take these down and see what you come up with for each of them? We are actually at the local police department now. When you are done, you can call back here and ask for Officer Rodney. He'll be able to locate us and relay the information."

"Sure Lee, who do you want me to check on?"

Lee quickly read the list to Francine, "Harold Stein, Walter Mackenzie, Jacob Rivier, Louie Barton, and Willie Laramie"

Francine quickly read the list back to him and then asked, "Is that everyone?"

"No, why don't you add in Marcia Clement too," Lee decided. She was on the list that the receptionist had provided Lee. He wasn't sure, but he felt like he should include her.

"Sure, give me a few hours. Do you need anything else?" Francine asked.

"No, just find out what you can about each of them. Thanks Francine," Lee said gratefully.

"I'll call the PD as soon as I can. Bye Lee," Francine promised.

"I know you will. Bye Francine," Lee said as they both hung up.

Officer Rodney had already emerged from the interrogation room and handed Walter off to a guard for booking. Rodney and Amanda were deep in conversation as Lee approached them.

"So the next step is to go pick up Jacob before he finds out we have Walter. Maybe if we tell him that that Walter has been talking with us, he will decide to open up too. Why don't I take you back to the park so you can keep an eye on Louie for me? Since you are staying there, it will be less obvious that you are watching him than an undercover officer. I don't want him to get word that his partners are talking and leave town before we can arrest him," Rodney suggested.

It was a sensible suggestion so everyone agreed. They all rode in silence back to the park. Rodney pulled off just a short distance from the front entrance so they wouldn't be spotted getting out of the car. It was a beautiful day and it had been a busy day so it would be nice to just walk together. As they prepared to exit the car, Lee remembered to tell him about his phone call with Francine. He told Rodney that she should be calling back later with information about all those involved. He explained that the agency computer would include much more information than what Rodney's database would have access to. Rodney agreed and promised to deliver the message as soon as she called.

Lee and Amanda began walking back to the park. They found that the walk truly was a welcomed distraction, so they both were taking their time. Just before they reached the entrance, they heard a strange noise coming from the woods. It took a few seconds to identify what it was, but then they both chuckled. A huge black bear was trying to relieve an itch by scratching its back against a tree. He was a magnificent creature with shiny black hair. He was huge at nearly seven feet tall standing on his hind two legs. They both enjoyed watching the display he put on. The bear paid no attention to them as it groaned in pleasure as it hit the right spots. Suddenly he dropped back onto all 4 legs and ambled off into the woods.

"It's so peaceful out here," Amanda remarked as they began walking again. "I know if this was different circumstances, I would really love being here as a tourist."

"Well maybe someday we'll have to come back here for fun then," Lee said with a wink and a smile.

Amanda couldn't help but smile back. They had reached the office so they stepped inside. Harold was sitting in his chair by the window. He seemed lost in thought as classical music played in the background.

"That's beautiful music," Amanda said as they entered. Harold was clearly startled at the interruption.

"That is Mozart. There is nothing more soothing than listening to Mozart," Harold responded.

"Well especially when it is played on such a beautiful stereo system," Lee said as he went out to check out the cabinet full of stereo equipment.

"Oh, do you like it?" Harold asked proudly. "Louie bought it for me. He said he found it on sale downtown one day and immediately thought of me. The boy surprises me sometimes. His mother begged me to hire him to keep him out of trouble. I think the park has been good for him."

"We heard that he is your nephew?" Amanda decided to risk admitting they knew.

"Yeah, I don't tell many people. He's been in trouble a lot. He didn't come from the best of families. I think he has changed now though. I know he has been a big help around here," Harold said with a far away look in his eyes. Amanda couldn't help but wonder if Harold was trying to convince them, himself or all of them.

Lee asked, "Where is he now?"

"I have him in the north section of the park cutting up firewood. Since the weekend is coming, we will need more wood around the campsites. Why do you want to know?" Harold suddenly sounded suspicious.

Amanda smiled and said, "Oh we were just curious. We haven't seen him around for awhile. We met Marcia though. She seems like a nice young girl."

"Yeah, she came bursting in on me one day about a month ago and begged me for a job. I told her that I couldn't pay her much but she insisted that she didn't care. She just really wanted to work here. I could definitely use the help and she was so determined that I finally let her. I told her that I didn't want her boyfriend hanging around though. She's here to work and not to play with him."

"She has a boyfriend?" Amanda and Lee both asked at the same time.

"Yeah, she says they intend to get married next summer. She wants to do it here by the lake. The girl is completely crazy for the guy. I don't see anything special about him but I guess I'm not the one who is going to married him," Harold chuckled at his own joke while not noticing the shocked looks on Lee and Amanda's faces.

"I think we better get back to our campsite before it gets any later," Lee blurted out and then said, "Oh I almost forgot, we came in here to buy some food." They quickly picked out a couple of things they could cook for dinner. They paid for the items and then headed back up the trail to their camp. As soon as they were far enough away, they stopped and looked at each other.

"I know, I know. Why was she coming on to me if she is getting married? Amanda, nothing in this place makes sense?" Lee said in frustration as he swiped his hand through his hair.

 **TBC**


	29. Chapter 29 - The Letter

**Chapter 29 - The Letter**

By the time Lee and Amanda had cooked dinner, eaten and cleaned up everything, they were exhausted. There really wasn't anything more they could do until the morning anyway. It was important to get some sleep especially when neither of them could keep their eyes open.

They both slept well and were up again as the sun was rising. They took their showers and then met back at the campsite to discuss the plans for the day. Since they were waiting for Francine to call them back, they had time to kill. They decided to walk over and check on Kevin and Lorraine.

"Hello!" Amanda said cheerily as they walked into their view. Lorraine was looking very uncomfortable as she sat at the picnic table.

"Hi! We wondered whether we would see you again," Kevin said as he emerged from the tent.

"We are here still and still trying to figure things out," Lee admitted. Kevin gestured for them to sit down and join them. Lorraine tried again to find a comfortable spot and then said, "Sorry, it has been a bad morning. The little princess has decided that she needs to kick me every two minutes and isn't done yet. Hopefully this is not going to be our relationship for the next eighteen years," she said with a chuckle.

"She's just eager to get out of there," Amanda said helpfully.

"I'm eager for her to vacate too at this rate," Lorraine said with a groan as the baby kicked her hard in the stomach again.

After this final kick, the baby settled down so the four of them could catch up with each other. Lorraine's and Kevin's vacation was drawing to a close soon and they had tried to investigate every cave they could find.

"I was thinking about that map you showed us," Kevin said. "Could I take another look at it? I'm wondering if it will show us any of the caves that we have missed."

Amanda pulled out the map, but before they could begin looking at it, Officer Rodney walked into the camp. "You folks are not easy to find," he said with a grin.

"We should have left you a note," Lee admitted. "I'm sorry Rodney. Let me introduce you to our new friends, Kevin and Lorraine. This is Officer Rodney." Lee then quickly filled them in on an abbreviated version of the outcome of the stolen goods.

When he finished, Amanda turned the group's attention back to Rodney and said, "I can't believe we didn't think to leave you a note."

"No worries. I'm just glad I found you." He pulled a few sheets of paper out of his pocket. "The receptionist wrote this down exactly as Francine told it to her so hopefully it is complete."

Lee began skimming through the sheets while handing each one to Amanda as he finished. Kevin and Lorraine watched them with growing curiosity about what was truly going on.

"There's nothing really here that we didn't already know or don't really need to know," Lee said as he handed the last sheet to Amanda.

Kevin couldn't take it any longer and asked "Come on, you guys said you weren't cops. You are obviously not regular, every day tourists either. Are you going to tell us who you are now?"

Lee shrugged and explained, "I don't see any reason why you shouldn't know. We are agents. We work in DC. We received a mysterious note to come here. We think there might be a link to what has happened to our boss that ties to this park. There's a small chance that our boss is still alive so we are desperately trying to figure out what that link is."

"Your boss?" Kevin questioned. "Is that the friend you mentioned? What was his name? Melvin? Milton?"

Amanda quickly said, "Billy Melrose."

Lorraine had been rubbing her tummy and only half listening but at the mention of Billy's name, she came to attention. "Billy Melrose?" she asked.

"Yeah, do you know him?" Amanda asked excitedly.

"I don't think so," Lorraine said as she crinkled up her nose. "Kevin why does that name sound familiar though?"

"I know, I thought it sounded familiar too when they mentioned it the other day," Kevin confirmed.

"Melrose, Melrose, Melrose, Melrose," Lorraine said over and over as she tried to jog her memory.

Suddenly she sat up straight and said, "I remember! It's on the letter that was hanging up in the office. I'm pretty sure Billy Melrose's name is on it!"

 **TBC**


	30. Chapter 30 - The Vacation

**Chapter 30 – The Vacation**

"Letter?" Amanda managed to gasp out. "What letter?"

"In the office, Harold keeps letters from guests who have complimented the park. I'm pretty sure that Billy Melrose was at least mentioned in one of the letters," Lorraine explained. "While we were drinking coffee one morning, we stood and read them all."

Lee and Amanda looked at each other as a piece of the puzzle was finally handed to them. What did it mean though? Neither of them were sure, but they both knew they needed to see the letter.

"Come on, I'll show you," Kevin offered. Lee and Amanda were so eager to go that Amanda almost forgot all about the map. Luckily she happened to notice it as she was standing up. She quickly folded it back up and slid it into her purse.

Meanwhile, Officer Rodney had asked if he could tag along. Lorraine also thought that the walk might do the baby some good so she gladly joined them too. They all took their time for Lorraine's sake, but made it to the office in record time since they were eager to see the letter.

Harold was outside in his chair. The morning newspaper had slid off his lap and was on the ground. He had fallen asleep in the sun and was snoring away. At least he wouldn't be bothering them if he stayed asleep. They all quietly walk around him and entered the office. As they quietly closed the door, Lorraine said, "Wow, he's tired. I was sure I would wake him up."

"Let's hope he stays asleep," Lee said with a grin.

Lorraine and Kevin began scanning all the letters that were posted on the wall. It took a few minutes, but finally Lorraine said, "Here it is!"

Amanda hurried over to where it was hanging and began reading it out loud.

"Dearest Harold,

I just wanted to thank you for all your hospitality and kindness during our stay. My husband has a very stressful job and it is nearly impossible for me to convince him to go on vacation. We rarely ever leave our backyard. I found out about this wonderful park through some friends who had recently visited. They were excited to visit because they had ancestors who used the Underground Railroad that ran through the area. After they stayed here, they convinced us that we needed to visit too.

The park is amazing. We had so much fun kayaking, hiking and just enjoying the scenery and wildlife. It was truly a blessing for him as he actually relaxed for a change. We were not disappointed at all even though we never did locate any of the caves that we were told existed in the park.

We plan to return soon and we will bring our children with us. They are much better at locating hidden things than we are. I'm sure they will love exploring and trying to find them.

Even though we didn't find the caves, we did find some amazing people here. We made many new friends and I know we will keep in touch with some of them. Your park is truly well run and you should be proud of all you do here. I hope you are able to hire some help soon so you don't have to do it all though. We very much look forward to our next visit.

With much appreciation and sincere thanks,

Mr. and Mrs. Billy Melrose"

"Billy was here?" Amanda asked as she finished reading. "The letter was written a little over a year ago. It sounded like Louie wasn't working for Harold yet. So all that stolen goods stuff happened afterward? I think this leaves additional questions and no real answers," Amanda surmised unhappily.

"Let's get out of here before Harold wakes up and we have to explain why we are here," Lee suggested. They all tiptoed outside and made their way back down the trail. Arriving back at Kevin and Lorraine's campsite, Officer Rodney told them that he needed to get going. He promised he would be in touch if he learned of anything new.

After he left, Kevin remembered that he had asked Amanda if he could see the map that they had been given. Since they had left abruptly, he hadn't had the chance to look at it. Amanda gladly pulled it back out of her purse for him. He pulled out his own crude drawing that he had been sketching while they visited the caves. Sitting down at the picnic table with the two maps, Amanda stood behind him so she could compare them also. Amanda noticed that Kevin had drawn circles around an area where her map had x's.

"What are those circles for?" Amanda asked as she pointed to them.

Kevin looked at her with a smirk on his face and said, "That's where mama bear and her two little adorable bear cubs like to hang out. We decided to stay away from that area and give her some space."

"That sounds like a wise decision," Amanda chuckled at his humor.

"Yeah, the bears around here are strange I guess. I had never seen a bear that had the characteristics of being a black bear but was actually white," Lorraine mused.

As Amanda sat thinking about what Lorraine had just said, she suddenly exclaimed, "That's it!"

"What's it?" Lee asked.

"Lee, do you remember how we saw that bear yesterday outside the park?" Amanda asked.

"Of course!" Lee answered. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"That bear was black. In fact, it was beautifully black. He was also outside the park. Yet, when we saw bears inside the park, they were seemingly white. I had never heard of an albino black bear before. However, the white didn't seem to be her fur, it seemed to be some sort of substance she had rolled in," Amanda continued to explain as she dug through her purse.

She pulled out the now worn piece of paper and read two of the sentences from the poem:

"You are Billy's last hope,

You need to find the dope."

She put the paper back in her purse. "I can't believe that part was in front of us this whole time. Those bears aren't white. They've been rolling in some sort of drug. I'm guessing heroin. Lee, she must live in a cave where Louie keeps the dope. I think if we can locate the cave, we will have solved this part of the poem also," Amanda finished explaining as Lee stared at her in shock. That part should have been the easiest part to solve. How could they have overlooked it?

 **TBC**


	31. Chapter 31 - A Nice Romp

**Chapter 31 – A Nice Romp**

Kevin agreed to call Officer Rodney and explain what they might have just discovered. Meanwhile, Amanda and Lee headed back to the area where they had seen the bear. Knowing that the babies were covered in the white stuff too further convinced them that they were on the right track.

As they neared the area, they slowed down and began looking all around for the bear family. It made them a little nervous knowing that she had cubs since it is well known that mama bears are very protective. She could be dangerous if she thought they were threatening her babies.

Suddenly they heard a familiar voice which caused them to stop where they were. They ducked behind some bushes until they could figure out what was going on.

"You stupid bear. I don't know why you had to pick this cave to have your cubs in. I didn't mind that you hibernated here since I wasn't ready to move the stuff, but now I need to get out of here and you're not making that easy."

There was silence for a moment. Lee and Amanda exchanged looks and mouthed "Louie" at each other.

"Come on you stupid bear. I brought you some tasty salmon. Aren't you hungry? Damn it, get out of my cave!" Louie demanded as he began to lose his patience.

Suddenly the mama bear emerged from the cave and rose up on her hind legs as she let out an earth shattering bear growl. Louie fell backwards on his butt in an attempt to get away from her. He couldn't quite seem to get back on his feet. Instead, he scurried in a crawl type position. Once he was far enough away that he felt safe, he stopped and turned around to face the bear again. The bear was glistening white with powder. Her two cubs came out of the cave while standing behind mom for safety. Lee and Amanda watched them peering out from behind their mom as they tried to act brave. The cubs were curious at what all the ruckus was about.

"That's right! Come on bear, keep coming. Look at you! I don't know if there is anything even left. Were you getting high on the stuff or what? Oh man, I hope you haven't ruined everything. I still owe money to a lot of people. They'll kill me if I don't come through with that heroin," Louie whined at the bear. The bear had smelled the salmon and was waddling over to it. She seemed oblivious to Louie's presence at that point while her hungry stomach took over control of her senses. The cubs were unsure of what to do so they hung back near the cave's entrance.

Now that mama bear had discovered this glorious free meal, she lost no time in beginning to consume it.

"Come on kids, shoo, get out of there," Louie said quietly as he threw a couple or rocks at them. One of them let out a squeal when the rock hit the little bear's chest. Louie had almost made it to the cave at that point. Mama bear heard her baby cry and sprang into action. Louie realized he was in trouble and took off running for his life. Mama bear gave chase and soon they were both out of sight.

Lee got up quickly and headed for the cave. "LEE! What are you doing?" Amanda asked fearfully.

"I'm just going to quickly check inside the cave. I want to see how much he has in there."

"It's too risky. Let's wait until Officer Rodney gets here," Amanda suggested.

"If Louie survives, he's not going to give up. We need to at least witness this stash before he can destroy it or remove it. I'll be okay. Just let me know if she is coming back," Lee said with more confidence than he felt. After all, he was a city guy. What in the world was he doing fooling around in a black bear's den?

Lee put on a brave front for Amanda and headed for the cave. The cubs were young but they were already over twenty pounds each. They were also very frisky and loved to play. When they saw Lee heading their way, they decided he was a new toy. They both grabbed a leg. One pulled him one way while the other pulled him the other. The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back on the ground. One of the cubs got on top of him while the other continued to play with his leg.

"Oh my God, you weigh a ton and you have bad breath! Get off me!" Lee said defiantly. The cubs took that as an invitation to wrestle and soon they were both wrestling each other while standing on top of Lee. It was quite a sight as Lee tried to stand up, but the cubs continued to try to involve him in their game. Amanda couldn't help but laugh at the scene before her. To top it all off, Lee was soon covered from head to toe with the heroin dust that the babies were coated in.

Lee finally managed to roll out from under them. They were so busy attacking each other and play fighting that they didn't notice they had lost their new playmate. Lee quickly brushed himself off and headed into the cave. He had been in there for what seemed like an eternity while Amanda waited nervously for him to return.

Suddenly his head popped out and he said, "Man, we hit the jackpot. He's got bags and bags of this stuff stashed in there. The bears must have realized it was a comfortable bed. They took over a section of it, but there is a lot of it still untouched. We got him Amanda!" Lee's last sentence drifted off as he saw Amanda's facial expression change to what could only be described as pure horror. He whipped his face in the direction she was looking. His mouth opened wide as he gasped, "Oh no!"

It was too late to run though. Mama bear had returned to her cubs and Lee was trapped. If he tried to run, he would never make it back to Amanda in time before the bear ripped him apart. Even if he did, it would expose Amanda to the bear's wrath. He tried to push his body as tight against the cave wall as possible. So far, she had not noticed him and he hoped to keep it that way. As long as she went back to eating the salmon, he just might have a chance. He reached for his pocket for the gun that he knew he didn't have. He had stupidly left it at camp when they left that morning. At the time, he wasn't expecting to do anything, but wait for Francine's phone call. He never left his gun behind. What a stupid time to start.

The bear lumbered back to the salmon and began feasting again. Lee surveyed the situation as he considered the odds of sneaking out of the cave. Could he somehow make it by her without being noticed? He decided it was his only chance. He slowly began inching out of the entrance and took his time as he walked behind the huge bear as she was eating. Amanda watched him while holding her breath. She knew she should probably have gone for help, but she just couldn't leave him there all alone. She also knew that a black bear could climb a tree faster than a human so there wasn't any place safe for either of them to hide. They were trapped. They could only hope to remain unnoticed. If only Lee could get by the bear, they might be able to wait her out. She was hopeful as he got closer.

Lee had managed to walk several feet and was starting to feel optimistic that he might make it back to Amanda after all. That was when the bear cubs realized their new playmate was leaving without them. They both began squealing in delight as they ran towards him. Lee couldn't remember what you were supposed to do if you faced a black bear with cubs. So he did the only thing that seemed right and froze. Unfortunately that encouraged the cubs to treat him like a tree and they began to climb him. By now mama bear realized something was amiss and whirled around to see what was going on. As soon as she realized that a man was with her cubs, her anger surfaced and she began running at full speed toward Lee. One of the cubs had made it nearly all the way up his chest while the other one was hanging onto a leg. That meant there was no chance for Lee to even make a run for it. Knowing there was nothing he could do, Lee could only stand and wait to be killed by the bear.

As he braced for the attack, he suddenly heard a gun go off. Mama bear had just reached him with her mouth open. She hit him dead center in the chest which knocked him backwards flat on his back. He closed his eyes and waited for the worse. Nothing happened. The cubs had left him as soon as he heard the gunshot. He realized they were crying as he slowly opened his eyes, expecting the worse. Mama bear was lying on the ground beside him while the cubs were climbing all over her in obvious distress.

Officer Rodney emerged with a man dressed in camouflage.

"You okay, son?" Rodney asked Lee.

"I think I might need to change my pants but yeah, I'm okay. Amanda? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just sad you killed the bear. What will happen to her cubs now?" Amanda asked.

The man in camouflage smiled and said, "She will be just fine. I just stuck a tranquilizer dart in her. It'll let her sleep while we gather the evidence that I'm guessing you folks have found. I'm just glad I got here in time; otherwise, I would have had to kill her. Don't you know any better than to play with a bear's cubs?" the man asked Lee.

Officer Rodney chuckled as he interrupted, "Let me introduce the Fish and Game Warden in these parts. Come on Rich; don't be too hard on them. They are city folk after all. Lee, I'm assuming you left some evidence in the cave?" Rodney said as he began helping Lee knock more of the powder off his clothes. Lee then led all of them into the cave.

Rodney let out a low whistle as he saw all of the bags of the drug in front of him. "There has to be easily over two million dollars worth here," he said in amazement. "You know, I'll bet this is from that shipment that disappeared several months ago. A drug cartel from Japan was rumored to have shipped a very large amount of heroin on a boat to the United States. There were many theories on where the boat was going to dock, but no one ever could seem to pinpoint the location. Then the stories died down and the drug never showed up anywhere. It must have been here the whole time. Louie probably thought he was being smart stashing it here. Then the bear moved in to hibernate during the winter. He knew it was safe from anyone finding it at that point. Louie just didn't count on the bear having cubs and refusing to leave."

"Speaking of Louie, unless the bear killed him, he got away," Amanda said flatly.

"Nope, the boy was being chased by the bear when we pulled up. He took one look at the Fish and Game vehicle and jumped inside. The mama bear realized that he was no longer a threat so she turned around to come back to her cubs. We would have been here sooner, but Louie was crying and carrying on so much. Then he began spilling his guts to us so we decided to get a quick statement from him. I used my tape recorder and he told me all about his stolen goods racket. We didn't know about this discovery yet so I'll be asking him more questions once we get back. I'm sure that a few threats of bringing him back here to visit with his new bear friends will help convince him to tell me the rest," Rodney said with a deep throated laugh.

"Sir? Did he mention Billy Melrose at all? Do we know what the connection is?" Amanda asked.

Her heart sank as Rodney's expression clouded back over to grimness. Office Rodney sadly shook his head and said, "I asked him. He told me that he had no idea who I was talking about."

 **TBC**


	32. Chapter 32 -Finding the Billy Connection

**Chapter 32 – Finding the Billy Connection**

"It doesn't mean that he's telling the truth though!" Lee insisted. "Come on, do you really think he is going to tell the truth? He's in a lot of trouble right now and he knows it. If he thinks Billy is dead, he sure isn't going to implicate himself."

Amanda's eyes locked onto Lee's. She couldn't help but have some hope that maybe he was right.

"Will you both be okay?" Officer Rodney asked. "I want to go find Jacob and have him join the cell block party that I'm throwing.

"We'll be fine. Please keep us updated," Lee requested.

"Of course. We will figure this out. I still feel that we are right at the brink of solving this mystery," Officer Rodney said encouragingly. He headed back to his vehicle. Rich had decided to stay behind until the bear began to wake up so that he could make sure the cubs stayed safe while she was sleeping.

Lee held out his hand and Amanda accepted it. He led her back to their campsite. They were both so mentally and physically exhausted that they decided to take a nap. After a few hours, Lee woke up first. He spent some time re-reading the reports that Francine had dictated to the police receptionist. He kept hoping that something would strike him or that he had missed something. After the fifth time reading them, he had to finally admit that there just wasn't anything obvious that he had overlooked. Amanda had begun to stir so he waited for her to come out of the tent.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Lee asked as soon as he saw her emerge. He was feeling stir crazy and hoped some time with Amanda would help to calm his emotions down.

Amanda stretched, yawned and nodded her agreement. She hoped that a walk around the park might reveal another piece of the puzzle if they kept on alert. She would welcome any size puzzle piece at this point. Lee stuffed the reports inside his shirt pocket. He once again offered his hand and Amanda gladly accepted it. They walked hand in hand to the lake.

The water was so incredibly clear and blue. They stood for awhile in silence while enjoying the amazing scenery around them. The fish were jumping out of the water. Soon a blue heron landed in the shallow water. It took little effort for the bird to enjoy snacking on the abundant fish.

Amanda was lost in her thoughts. Lee could tell by her expression that she was mulling everything over so he stayed quiet.

She finally spoke while ticking off points was making on her fingers. "Okay, so we know Billy was shot. We know that they took him away as if he was dead. We were told through this poem that he isn't dead. We were told to use a map for a clue which we did. We were told to find a fence which we did. We were told to find the dope which we did. Lee, what are we missing? Shouldn't we be at the point where we are all happy now? Don't get me wrong, it is nice to get these bad guys off the streets. However we have bad guys in DC. I just want to understand. What are we missing?"

"Can I see the poem again?" Lee asked. Amanda pulled the dog eared paper out and handed it to him. He read it several times and then suddenly reached into his pocket. He flipped through the papers while skimming each of them. When he reached the end, he went back through them again. Amanda watched him with growing concern.

"Lee, what's wrong?" Amanda asked.

"There's one thing that we haven't done that's on here. Well we started to, but it isn't finished yet," Lee said excitedly. "We need to go use the payphone at the office"

"Lee? What are you talking about? We have done everything that the poem tells us to do," Amanda insisted.

"Oh we have, but we didn't complete every assignment. Here, look at these and see if anyone is missing, "Lee suggested as he handed the reports to Amanda. She flipped through all of them several times and then shrugged. "Everyone here seems to be accounted for in those reports. I'm not following you, Lee. Surely, you don't suspect that Kevin and Lorraine are involved somehow."

"Huh?" Lee asked dumbfounded. That thought had never even occurred to him. For a second he wondered if it should have. He quickly ran the idea around in his mind, but almost as quickly dismissed it.

"No, I wasn't talking about Kevin and Lorraine. I feel confident that they have nothing to do with any of this. I gave Francine one other name to check and there isn't a report on her here," Lee said. "It's possible that she didn't find anything, but I think Francine would know to dictate those findings when she called. Amanda, what if Marcia is the connection?"

 **TBC**


	33. Chapter 33 - Phoning Francine

**Chapter 32 – Phoning Francine**

Amanda was stunned to hear Lee say that he thought Marcia was involved. She was just a young kid who was supposed to be getting married next summer. "Why in the world would you think Marcia is involved in any of this?" Amanda asked.

"I don't know. It is just a gut feeling that I have. Come on, let's go to the office and use the payphone to call Francine," Lee suggested.

"I think you just want a reason to let her flirt with you some more," Amanda teased.

"Amanda, if I didn't know better, I would think you were jealous," Lee teased back.

"Don't be ridiculous! What do I have to be jealous about? Besides, I thought your days of dating young blondes had passed," Amanda retorted a little defensively.

"She seems quite taken with me. Perhaps I should get closer to her and see what she can tell me," Lee continued to tease Amanda.

As they neared the office, both were anxious to see if she was working. They peered in one of the windows as they passed the office. Harold was sweeping the floor while listening to his beloved Mozart. They both let out a sigh of relief and headed around to the back of the building to the payphone. Lee soon had Francine on the line.

"Francine, I got the reports, but you seem to be missing one," Lee stated without so much as a hello.

"Hi to you too, Lee," Francine teased. I was just about to call the police department to leave a message for you. I'm sorry that I left Marcia off my original reports. You had given me her name as an afterthought so I didn't bother to run the check on her until after the others were done. As the information started to come in, I knew I had to delve more deeply into it before I got your hopes up. I have been checking with all our sources since then to get as much information as possible. I couldn't believe it. Actually I'm still in shock myself. You just won't believe this when I tell you. Her father will be here shortly so we can discuss things further. She might have been the key to this the whole time."

"Francine? Slow down. What are you talking about? Who is Marcia and what did you dig up?" Lee asked impatiently.

"Lee, Marcia's father is an agent. He heads up a drug taskforce in our San Francisco office," Francine said.

"What? Are you sure Francine? Is Marcia aware of what her father does?" Lee's head was spinning with this new information.

"Yes, I can confidently assure you that she knows. She is in a special trainee program to become an agent. Her dad got her enrolled a few months ago," Francine continued. "Mr. Clement has been leading an investigation that involves a large shipment of drugs that was expected to be delivered into New York Harbor several months ago. When it didn't show up there, it was determined that there was a leak. It seemed that the drug traffickers redirected the shipment somewhere else. Since that time, there has been a massive manhunt searching for where this multi million dollar shipment of heroin disappeared to."

"We found it," Lee interrupted her. As soon as he realized that Francine had some valuable information, Lee had offered Amanda to share the phone with him. She had heard everything that had been said. "She's an agent?" Amanda whispered in amazement.

"A trainee!" Francine overheard her and quickly pointed out. "Amanda, I know that is hard for you to comprehend such things since you walked right into becoming an agent with little effort. However, Marcia's dad is making sure she does it right. There won't be anyone letting her ride on their shoulders," Francine said sarcastically.

"Knock it off Francine. We've all had a couple of hard weeks. We need each other right now. Turning on each other won't solve anything," Lee scolded.

"I'm sorry Amanda. I'm exhausted. I'm sure you both are too. Wait! Did you say you found the shipment?" Francine asked in amazement. She just realized that she had been so busy putting Amanda down, that she had missed Lee's comments. Lee quickly filled her in on what had happened since they had last talked.

It was Francine's turn to find herself being overwhelmed with the news. As she was trying to absorb it all, she was told that Mr. Clement had arrived and was waiting for her in the conference room. She promised to call the police department as soon she was done.

After they hung up, Lee suggested that they go to the police department to wait for the call. They could walk to Kevin and Lorraine's campsite and ask to borrow their vehicle. Amanda found herself stunned by all this new information. As she continued to try to process it, something occurred to her.

"There is only one problem with this whole situation," Amanda said wistfully.

Lee was pretty sure he knew where she was going with this, but asked anyway, "Which is?"

"We still don't know anything about where Billy Melrose is," Amanda said glumly.

Suddenly they heard the familiar sound of the hammer being pulled back on a gun. A few seconds later, they realized a gun was pointed their way. It took a few more seconds for Marcia's face to appear behind that gun. "I know where Billy Melrose is," she declared smugly.

 **TBC**


	34. Chapter 34 - The Trainee

**Chapter Thirty-Four – The Trainee**

Impulsively, Lee stepped in front of Amanda to ensure that she was safe.

"Marcia, we are the good guys here, can I reach into my pocket so I can show you my badge?"

"Sure, why not," she responded much too nonchalantly.

Her attitude puzzled Lee, but he slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge. He held it up so she could see it and asked if she wanted him to throw it to her.

"Nah, I've seen my dad's. I just wanted to see what yours looked like."

"You know who I am?" Lee asked in amazement. His emotions almost immediately turned to anger when he realized she was still pointing the gun at them. "If you know who we are, why do you have a gun aimed at us?" he asked her sternly.

Marcia began giggling and asked, "Why? Does the gun make you nervous? I thought you were some hotshot agent. You should be used to this." Lee was at the boiling point by this time and she could tell she might have gone too far. "Okay, okay, keep your shirt on. Geesh, I'll put it away," she said as she swallowed the last of her giggles. She quickly lowered it and put it in her purse. "You know, it felt very powerful being able to control you for a few minutes. Maybe this 'being an agent' stuff won't be so bad after all," she mused.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Lee erupted. Amanda quickly realized she needed to calm things down before the two of them went to blows. "Lee, calm down. She's just a kid. Marcia, how long have you known who we were?"

"As soon as Harold told me you checked in. Dad told me that you were on the way, so it wasn't any big surprise," Marcia responded while rolling her eyes like a typical teenager with an attitude.

"Your dad knew? How did your dad know?" Lee managed to sputter out between his clenched teeth. None of this was making any sense. He couldn't help but wonder why this girl's father thought she would make a good agent.

"I don't think we should be discussing all of this out in the open, do you?" she scolded Lee like he was the trainee. "Let's go back to your campsite at least and then I can answer your questions a little more privately.

Lee was seething by this time but Amanda put her hand on his arm and locked eyes with him. He found comfort in knowing she would help him through whatever was going on. As usual a simple gesture like touching him seemed to calm him down a little. Amanda answered for them both as she agreed that they should all go back to the campsite.

After they arrived, Lee gestured for Marcia to sit at the picnic table with Amanda as he began pacing.

He stopped in mid pace and said, "Okay, so are you going to tell us what is going on here or what?"

"You know Billy warned my dad that you have quite a temper. I can see he wasn't exaggerating," Marcia yawned as if he was boring her.

Lee began sputtering again as he yelled "I do not have a temper!"

"LEE! Please come sit down. You aren't helping any of this," Amanda spoke to him like she would one of her children. Lee took one look at Amanda's face and decided to listen to her. He sat down beside her and focused on keeping his temper in check.

"So you know Billy?" Amanda asked.

"Nope," Marcia answered as she looked Amanda in the eyes.

"I thought you just said you did?" Amanda was really starting to lose her patience with this girl too.

"No I didn't. I said my dad knows him. I never met the guy," Marcia said with a smirk like it was fun playing with them.

"So how does your dad know him?" Amanda asked.

"You really want a story, huh? Okay, fine I'll tell you the story. Dad met him last summer. He had come here with mom for their 20th wedding anniversary so it was just the two of them. I guess Billy had come to relax, but Dad said that he was bored silly. He would drive his wife crazy so she would send him on errands to work off his energy. Dad ran into him one day when they both had gone to the office to check for messages. Until that day, they had never actually met, but they had talked frequently on the phone through their work. After introducing themselves in person, it didn't take long for them to make the connection. They both decided that they were destined to meet here so they insisted that their wives meet. My dad was thrilled when the two ladies got along so well. It meant that he and Billy could spend the rest of their vacation hanging out together which was better for everyone. Mom and Billy's wife were thrilled to have the men out of their hair. I guess it was a win-win for everyone," Marcia finished with a grunt.

Amanda ignored Marcia's rude behavior and asked, "So we heard that you are enrolled in the agency's trainee program. I would think that would keep you busy enough. So why are you working here too?"

"Dad insisted. He said I needed to keep my eyes open for some illegal stuff going on in the park. He's convinced that this place is a haven for criminals. I swear my old man is slowly loosing his edge. Harold wouldn't be smart enough to do anything illegal. Besides, he is too much in love with this park to do anything but take care of it. The man would starve himself to death before he let anyone harm the place," Marcia declared.

Lee had done a good job keeping his temper in check, but he was struggling hard to continue. "So, why do I get the feeling that you didn't really want to join the agency?" he ventured.

"Heck no, I was all ready to go to salon school when dad pulled me aside and convinced me that I needed to do this instead. He promised that he would help me get into the trainee program. He talked about what a great career it would be and how it would make me feel good because I would be helping to keep my country safe while helping others. What do I care about helping other people?" Marcia asked bitterly. "Dad refused to pay for salon school though so I had no choice. I thought maybe it would be fun meeting all you agents, but I soon realized that you are either married or all very boring. Dad said that you and Amanda only pretend to be in a relationship for your cases. I was sure that I could convince you to have some fun with me. I was so disappointed that no matter how much I flirted with you, you wouldn't budge. So far this agent stuff is just one big yawn. Maybe if I could be assigned a case that had some excitement, it would be different. This place is just dullsville," Marcia concluded.

Amanda shook her head sadly. Marcia's father had tried so hard to make his daughter into a version of himself that he had obviously refused to face the fact that she was not agency material. In fact, having her work for the agency was a danger to the country. "I'm sorry you feel that way," Amanda said sympathetically. "I really love being an agent. I think maybe your dad has pushed a little hard for you to follow in his footsteps. You shouldn't do something that you really don't enjoy."

"Will you tell him for me? Will you tell him that I shouldn't be a trainee?" Marcia asked excitedly.

Lee and Amanda exchanged looks. They knew they shouldn't get involved but maybe her father needed to hear it from someone else. This was one time that maybe it would be wrong not to get involved. "We will speak to him," Amanda decided.

"Great! Maybe you two aren't so bad after all," Marcia teased.

"I'm still trying to figure out some of this story though. Perhaps, you could clear up some of the confusion," Lee suggested.

"I can try, ask me anything," Marcia said with sincerity.

"Okay, so you admitted that you were flirting with me and coming onto me, right?" Lee asked.

"Yeah so?" Marcia responded with some hesitation because she wasn't sure where he was heading with this.

"We were told that you were engaged and hoped to get married next summer. Why are you flirting with others if you are happily engaged?" Lee questioned.

Marcia began laughing. "I'm not engaged. That was Dad's idea to get a friend of his to pretend to be my fiancé so everyone would leave me alone while I was here. I would have liked to have been asked out on a date with Louie, but he was always too busy doing other things. He's quite a guy and I just know he will go far in life. He has his hands in so many projects. He is truly amazing."

Amanda and Lee exchanged quick glances again. They had both had enough.

"Well we have to get going. Thanks for sharing all of this with us. We really do appreciate it. We are hoping to speak to your father soon so we'll give him our thoughts," Amanda offered as a way to make their escape peacefully.

"That would be great. Hey, I just want you to know that I'm sorry I scared you with that gun. I'll try to be more careful in the future," Marcia said as she swung her legs out from under the picnic table and stood up. Soon she took off running back down the trail toward the office.

Lee and Amanda watched in stunned amazement as she disappeared. It took a lot to make them both speechless. Marcia was one of the few who managed it effortlessly.

 **TBC**


	35. Chapter 35 - Two Williams

**Chapter Thirty-Five – William Clement and Billy Melrose**

Lee and Amanda hurried to Kevin and Lorraine's campsite. They really wanted to get to the police station so they could find out what Francine had learned from Mr. Clement.

Lorraine wasn't feeling well but Kevin handed over the car keys with no hesitation. "If Lorraine decides to have the baby, we will need an ambulance. There is no way I could drive while she was in labor," Kevin confessed.

Thanking Kevin, they hurried to the parking lot where he had left his car. Not wanting to attract any attention, Lee kept the car just below the speed limit as he hurried to the station.

Officer Rodney met them in the front entrance. "You must have read my mind; I was just going to go find you. We have Francine and William Clement on the phone waiting to talk to you. Come on," Rodney said as he led them into the conference room.

After taking seats round the conference room's table, Rodney let Francine know that Lee and Amanda were present.

"Lee? Amanda? I'm glad we found you both. I have been talking to William Clement and I decided that you would want to hear this too. William, I'll let you start over so Lee and Amanda can catch up, okay?"

"Sure Francine. Hi. I feel like I know both of you already. Billy loved telling the story about how the two of you became partners. He was quite proud of himself for seeing something in Amanda that no one else did at first. I see his instincts, as always, were very accurate," William said with obvious affection for Billy

William continued, "Francine has filled me in on the newest developments of what's been happening up there. I will be catching a plane later tonight so I can take over now that you have done all the hard work. I can't thank you both enough for all you have accomplished. I was just telling Francine that Billy always talked highly of all of his people. He always has considered you more like a family than co-workers. I have to admit that I'm a little jealous. I have good people under me, but I'm not sure any of them would hop on a train without question and head so far away without even knowing what they were getting into."

Well the note did say Zulu Blue, sir," Lee reminded him.

"True, but I'd be willing to bet a week's salary that both of you would have come anyway. I think you would have done anything to try to find out who had hurt Billy," William countered.

"Sir, speaking of Billy," Amanda said impatiently.

"Oh yes, well Billy is going to be okay. It was a little touch and go for a while but he is recovering nicely in a safe place. I'm just so glad he actually listened to me and wore the damn bullet proof vest. He has to be one of the most stubborn men I have ever met. He tells me that Lee has him beat though," William added with a chuckle.

"So it's true then?" Amanda asked in a voice barely above a whisper. "Billy really is alive? Please tell us!" Amanda almost pleaded to hear the words.

"Yes, I am happy to say he is alive," William confirmed.

"Oh my gosh!" Amanda exclaimed as she began to tear up. Billy was alive. She had tried so hard to keep the faith the past few weeks, but she kept expecting to be told it was just a wish. Instead, Billy really was alive!

"Can you tell us what happened?" Lee questioned.

"I can now," William said with a nod. "I'm sorry that I couldn't before. It was classified as need to know only and unfortunately you weren't listed in that category. I'm sure you know that Billy and I go way back. We have talked on many occasions over the phone about various cases in each other's territories. Since I head up the drug taskforce, it seemed like he was always contacting me for advice or help on drugs being trafficked in his territory. We were both very busy men though so we had never had the opportunity to meet fact to face. Then my wife guilted me into a week away to celebrate our anniversary. Meanwhile, Billy's wife decided he was close to burn out and needed a break. Little did any of us know that fate would bring us all together," William's chuckled at the memories. "While we left our wives to enjoy womanly things together, Billy and I spent time out on the lake where we could talk privately. We would take the kayaks out early each morning and after a few laps around the lake, we would sit and chat about our current caseloads. I had told him about this huge drug shipment that was to arrive soon. It felt good to have someone to talk to about it. This case is the largest one I have ever handled in my career. It also is the first one that went majorly wrong. When the boat didn't arrive in New York like my sources claimed it was going to, we knew we had a mole. Then word came out that there was activity down around D.C. and that someone was trying to make deals to move small amounts of the heroin to that area to be sold," William paused for a minute to take a breath.

William struggled to continue as the memories became less fun to remember. "Billy and I had stayed in touch after the time we spent together in the park. I had to be the one who broke the news to him that I thought someone was moving drugs into the DC area from this shipment. I had some reliable sources that caught wind that they had decided to begin selling some of it on the street in order to raise funds to move the bulk of it later. Without hesitation, Billy volunteered to go undercover. I told him no, but he refused to listen. He said that it made the most sense for him to take over the role since no one would recognize him. He was a pencil pusher so he rarely got out into the view of the public. I suggested that he the two of you take over, but he again refused. He insisted that this one was too dangerous for Amanda. He wasn't going to be the one who had to tell her mother that he had gotten her killed."

William paused to take a drink of water and then continued. "So we created a fake id of George Tucker who was your friendly, neighborhood drug pusher. We quickly produced a whole scenario of him being around for fifteen years and the only major game in town. It didn't take long for them to bite. He began dealing with them. Each time, he managed to build their trust a little more. At the same time, he also managed to exhaust himself. I soon began hearing the rumors that he was more grumpy than normal and had become very short tempered with the people he cared the most about. He was too old to be pushing himself so hard. I begged him to stop. We would start over. He told me that I was being irrational since we didn't have time to start over. Jeannie began calling my wife to cry on her shoulder. For the first time in all those years, she was afraid she was losing her husband. She was convinced he was having an affair. I couldn't tell either of them the truth and it was heartbreaking to be a part of it," William stopped for a moment to get control of his emotions.

"The whole thing almost blew up in our face when Lee went out to dinner with Billy. His drug contact saw him there and was convinced he was making a side deal with Lee. Since Billy always claimed that he didn't have the money to pay for the dope until he sold it, the dealer had allowed him to buy it on credit. When he became convinced that Billy was buying from Lee, he felt that Billy was lying to him. He decided that Billy's credit was revoked and he wanted all his money immediately. Billy was shaken by the encounter but shrugged it off. We had definitely come too far to give up now. The dealer continued to call the pager we set up for Billy. What little sleep Billy had been getting, suddenly became even less. The dealer would call him all hours of the day and night to demand payment. Billy had to keep making excuses why he needed more time. We finally managed to put together the amount necessary to keep him the dealer happy. The next time he called, Billy offered to meet him. He told him that he would pay, but in exchange, he wanted a larger quantity of dope. He had found some easy targets and would be able to move it fast. We sat up a drop point and intended to arrest the dealer. We thought if he brought the large quantity of dope with him, we could scare him into talking. We might even get lucky and he might tell us some names. Sadly, he had his own plans though. When Billy arrived at the location, he heard a phone ringing. He answered it and was told he was being watched. He was then instructed to go to that street where he ultimately was shot. I was so angry that I hadn't flown to DC to help Billy with this. It was an important bust, but I had my hands full back in San Francisco. I wasn't expecting that kind of trouble and Billy was a seasoned agent," William stopped again to take back control of his emotions.

Amanda found herself feeling numb as she listened to the events that led up to Billy being shot. Billy had put everything he loved aside to stop those drugs from going onto the market. She knew why too. He had kids at home. Heroin killed young people every day. Billy couldn't allow all that heroin to go onto the street where his kids and their friends would have access to it. As a parent, she completely understood and would have done the same thing herself.

William found his voice and continued on, "We alerted the police as soon as we knew something had gone wrong. They promised to keep it out of the public's eye. I prayed that Billy had worn the vest. We had fought about it many times. I was never sure if he did or not. I watched the news that night. As I watched Billy's body get loaded into the ambulance, I think my heart stopped beating. Thankfully the police department finally called and told me he was safe. I flew to DC that night. They managed to get him secretly to the agency hospital where they discovered that the force of the gunfire had caused some extensive internal injuries. The bullets had been kept out but the damage was still done. The operation took all night. They slowly were able to piece his body back together but they kept him in a coma for weeks to let his body heal. Meanwhile, our man who tailed the drug dealer found out where the drugs might be located. We had no proof though and I didn't have anyone I could send. My men are well known in the drug community. They wouldn't have stood a chance trying to fool anyone. I didn't know what to do. I knew Billy deserved better though. He had gone through a lot for it to end badly. If I let him down, I knew I would never forgive myself. As I stared at him one night while he lay unconscious, I realized what I had to do. He often bragged about how good Amanda was at putting together puzzles. I also knew how loyal the two of you were to him. I couldn't send you a letter for fear that it would be intercepted so I came up with the idea of doing a poem in a code that you would have to figure out. I also knew your curiosity would get the best of you, William said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Okay, but how did you know all that stuff would happen?" Lee questioned. "How could you possibly know anything about the stolen goods?"

"Well you can thank Marty for that one," William confessed.

"Harold's other nephew?" Amanda asked. "What did he have to do with it?"

"Just like you, I met him at the train station. He recognized me. I'm pretty well known in most parts. He confided that he had a cousin Louie who he knew was up to no good. He begged me for help. Marty asked me to go to dinner with him that night so we could talk about it. He swore that his Uncle Harold really was a good guy. He took over that park when no one else cared about it. It was pretty run down and the state was close to shutting it down. Harold spent hours of his own time cleaning it up. I guess you could say that his love nursed it back to health. By the time he was done, he was extremely protective of it and willing to fight anyone to keep it from being damaged again. The state was thrilled that the park looked so nice that they began advertising it as a historical park. Harold was on board at first, but then he began to find litter all over the park grounds. His kayaks were being returned with seemingly deliberate damage. Then one summer, part of the campground was burnt down from someone who fell asleep with a cigarette. Harold became angrier and angrier with people and their disrespect for the park that he held so dear to his heart. Soon they labeled him as the crazy man. The State believed that if they cut his benefits and pay, he would be forced to leave. They just couldn't fathom that anyone would be willing to manage this park just because they loved it so much. By this time, Harold no longer cared about the money," William paused again for another drink of water.

"When Louie came and offered to work there, Harold was hesitant at first. He knew that Louie had been in jail many times for various crimes including drug dealing. He also knew how much his little sister loved her son. He offered Louie a job provided that he followed Harold's rules. Louie accepted. It didn't take long for Louie to figure out which buttons to push to get Harold riled up. It was Louie who made sure that Harold steered people away from the caves. Louie spread the ghost stories while knowing full well that it would upset Harold. Harold loved the park and the idea that ghosts would haunt it, was upsetting to him. Louie placed cassette machines around the lake so he could play eerie sounds all night long. He would aim colored spot lights in the water and create disturbances so people couldn't sleep. It was rare for more than a couple of families to stay more than a night in the park. Marty had met a couple at the train station at one point who were headed to stay the week in the park. When they came back a week later, they told Marty that they felt there was some illegal activity going on. They described the speedboat on the lake with boxes of things. Marty had grown up there and he knew that no motorized boats were allowed on the lake. He tried to talk to Harold, but he refused to listen. Marty didn't have any proof and I couldn't risk making my identity known over stolen goods. I gave him my card and made him promise to call me if he heard anything else," William explained.

"A few months later, Marty called me to let me know that there were rumors that a large amount of drugs were being hidden somewhere in the park. He also told me that he was pretty sure that Louie had hid them there. As much as I wanted to go, I knew I couldn't. So late one night, I tried my hand at poetry and came up with that little poem. I added the stolen goods stuff in so that you would keep your eyes open for anything. It worked too. What a homerun you both hit!" William said proudly.

"So you were the one who drew the map and got it into your hands too?" Lee asked.

"Yes, I wasn't sure where to put the x's so I just sort of placed them all around so you would not focus on any one area."

"Wow!" Amanda said. "Those x's were pretty accurate."

"Or you just think they were since I threw them all over the map," William chuckled that Amanda was so easily impressed with him while he was in awe of her.

"I have to admit Amanda that you are an amazing woman. Who would have ever thought a housewife would turn out to be such an amazing agent. You are an inspiration to all the females out there who ever wanted to make it in a man's world. I was so awestruck by you that I would love for my daughter to follow in your footsteps. She wanted to enroll in a salon so she could learn to cut hair. My wife and I convinced her that the agency was a better career choice. I convinced her to enroll as an agency trainee. Then I used my clout to send her to the park to keep an eye on things. I think it definitely paid off," William said proudly.

Amanda and Lee both grimaced as they exchanged looks.

"Sir, about your daughter," Amanda began.

 **TBC**


	36. Chapter 36 - Oh Marcia

**Chapter 35 – Oh Marcia!**

"Isn't she marvelous?" William immediately interrupted Amanda. "She is amazing. She always has been. I always said she took after her mother more than me. She's not as natural in her abilities to solve a case like this as you would be, but I know she has potential. I can't wait to see what else she can do. I can tell that her instructors are amazed by her too. They insisted that this was the perfect case for her to get a taste of spying. They helped me set up a story that she was engaged so I could send one of our younger male agents down to keep an eye on her. Of course Harold got upset about that and asked that he not hang around so it was short lived. By that time, she had established herself well and was doing a great job at keeping an eye on things," William seemed to gush about his daughter.

"When it was official that you were on your way, I got word to her. I didn't want her to be suspicious of you. That would have been a waste of her time since I knew she was on the trail of the real culprits. I gave her both your backgrounds and even told her that Amanda should be her inspiration. She asked all kinds of questions about Lee. She mostly wanted to know if he was in a relationship with Amanda. I told her that he was too old for her," William said with a chuckle.

The whole time that William was talking, Amanda and Lee were silently looking at each other. Their thoughts seem to transfer between them without a word being spoken. William was obviously very proud of his daughter and if they told him the truth, it would break his heart. It would likely make him angry with them also. To not tell him the truth, could mean that she could hurt herself or someone else. She would never be agency material and he needed to know that.

William realized that everyone had gone silent. "Lee? Amanda? Are you still there?" He asked.

"Yes sir, we are still here," Amanda confirmed.

"Why are you suddenly so quiet?" William asked with suspicion in his voice. "What about my daughter? What were you going to say before I cut you off?" William demanded to know.

"Well it's just that, well you know, I mean Lee and I were talking and ummm, well it just seems that," Amanda tried to figure out the best way to say it without making him angry.

William began snorting with laughter. He laughed heartily for about five minutes while Lee and Amanda looked at each other in confusion. When he finally was able to talk through his giggles, he said "You are truly amazing Amanda. Billy said that you were a kind woman and you just proved it. I hope you will forgive me for setting you up, but I wanted to see if you would be truthful with me. She is absolutely the last person on earth who should ever be an agent," William announced as he began laughing again. This time, Lee and Amanda joined in.

 **TBC**


	37. Chapter 37 - A Bunde of Joy

**Chapter 36 – A Bundle of Joy**

Lee and Amanda understood why Billy had liked William so much. He really was a funny guy. He apologized several times for teasing Amanda and admitted that he was the one you had to watch out for at the office. He loved playing practical jokes and keeping everyone on their toes.

He told them that he had placed his daughter at the park while knowing that she would stay as far away from the action as possible. Through her whole life she was one of the least observant people he knew. It was actually his wife's idea to enroll her in the agency. She had dreams of her daughter following in her husband's footsteps. William knew it wasn't going to ever happen though. They had many discussions about it and finally his wife agreed with him. The next day she brought home paperwork to enlist Marcia in the military. William let out a huge sigh at the memory and said he thought at first she was joking. Unfortunately she was dead serious. She wanted to be able to tell her friends that her daughter had an important job and cutting hair wasn't in her vision. William confessed that he was afraid that if she convinced Marcia to join, she might actually make it part way through boot camp. He was just as convinced that at some point, they would dump her into a cannon and shoot her to the moon.

William decided that the only way to convince his wife that both ideas were ridiculous was to let Marcia join the agency. Thankfully in his position, he was able to use his clout to get her enrolled. He made sure everyone involved knew the situation. After she joined, it didn't take long for them insist that she needed to go. She was even worse than William had told them. So William sent her to Wisconsin Dells to be his eyes and ears. She seemed intrigued at first, but soon found the whole thing boring. When she asked her dad if all cases were this dull, he told her that the stakeouts could be tedious. She was definitely not suitable for this kind of work. He hadn't counted on her making moves on Louie though. He was relieved that Louie didn't seem too interested. Harold was kind enough to keep him up to date on what she was doing. The two of them had kept in touch the whole time, which is why Harold had been willing to hire her. Of course, Marcia had no idea that she was handed the job. Instead, William told Marcia that getting the job was up to her and part of her mission to prove herself. It was imperative that she was hired there and he had made it very clear to her that he would not accept any excuses for her failing her first assignment. Harold pretended he didn't know who she was when she showed up. To make it seem realistic, he had really made her grovel for the job. She was a good worker at first because she feared her father's wrath if she got fired. As time went on, she realized that Harold was desperate for the help and she became lazy. She was no longer meeting Harold's standards. He told William that she would have to move on after the summer season was over.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, William had already enrolled her in salon school for the fall semester. Maybe she would surprise him and excel at it. If she did, he would help her buy a building and build a business. If it truly would make his daughter happy, then it was important to help her to obtain her dreams. It was always possible that she would surprise everyone and succeed at such a career. Certainly stranger things had happened. William felt that he owed this explanation to Lee and Amanda after playing such a mean trick. He apologized again and they assured him that they weren't offended by it but that someday they might get him back. He chuckled and welcomed them to try.

William needed to get going to pack so he could catch his plane. He told them that he would meet with them the following afternoon. He was looking forward to thanking them in person. He also would bring them plane tickets for their trip home so they wouldn't need to use their own money. He promised to pass their love onto Billy too. He was sure it would help Billy's recovery knowing that two of his best had solved the case. They promised Francine that they would call her before they headed back. Then they said their goodbyes and hung up. Afterward, they sat for a moment to absorb everything that had just been discussed. They needed a moment to enjoy the exhilaration of knowing that Billy was alive and was going to be okay. Rodney decided to give them some privacy.

"I can't believe he is alive," Amanda admitted. "I kept hoping somehow it was possible, but I honestly thought we would be told in the end that he didn't make it."

"I know," Lee nodded in agreement. "I'm glad we came out here. I'm glad you agreed to come out here with me," Lee added as he looked at her fondly.

Amanda smiled and said, "The note said Zulu Blue."

Lee laughed and said, "Let's get out of here. I think we should go buy some steaks for the campfire tonight. We can see if Kevin and Lorraine want to join us and cook them at their campsite. We need to celebrate."

"That sounds like a great plan to me!" Amanda agreed.

They headed back to the park, but stopped on the way to buy 4 huge steaks along with all the extras for a nice steak dinner. After parking the car, they headed for Kevin and Lorraine's campsite. As they got closer, they could hear voices coming from the area. The voices sounded stressed, pained and loud but they couldn't distinguish any words until they got closer.

"Kevin, the baby is coming now! Why did you let them have our car? You knew the baby could come at any time. I need to get to the hospital," Lorraine was shouting at Kevin.

"Sweetie, I have to go call for an ambulance. I wouldn't be any good driving while you are in such pain. Please, just relax and I'll run to the phone booth. I'll be back in less than fifteen minutes. I promise," Kevin pleaded with her.

"NO! You can't just leave me. Kevin this baby is coming now. You are going to have to deliver it!" Lorraine announced in no uncertain terms.

"ME? I can't deliver a baby. I definitely can't deliver my own baby," Kevin whined in desperation. The thought of delivering a baby terrified him.

"OH MY GOD KEVIN, it hurts so bad! You have to help me. I need drugs now," Lorraine pleaded.

As soon as the realization sank in that Lorraine was in labor, Lee and Amanda dropped the load of food they were carrying and began to run. As they entered the camp, Kevin was standing there like a deer in headlights. He saw them burst in and his anxious face almost instantly turned to relief. "Amanda! Lee! I'm so glad to see you. Lorraine's water broke about fifteen minutes ago. She won't let me call an ambulance. I can't deliver a baby. I have no idea how. I need to go call for an ambulance, can you stay with her?"

"Of course!" they echoed each other. Kevin sprinted down the trail towards the office. Amanda walked into the tent to see how Lorraine was doing. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that the baby was already on the way. Lorraine was dilated 10 cm. This baby wanted out and she wasn't going to wait for an ambulance.

"Lee, I'm going to need your help!" Amanda shouted out to him over Lorraine's current contraction screams.

"Me? What can I do? Amanda, I can't help deliver a baby!" Lee said as he took over the deer in the headlights look.

"You can and you will. I can't do this by myself so get in here," Amanda commanded.

Lee reluctantly hurried inside the tent while trying not to look at Lorraine's private areas all exposed. He found his face flushing as he realized that he wasn't going to be able to hide from this whole scenario.

"Should I go boil some water or something?" he asked hoping it would be a way not to have to be in the tent with them.

"No, that's just in the movies," Amanda responded as she pulled out some beach towels she found in the corner. Lorraine saw what she was doing and gasped, "There are regular size towels in that bag over there."

Lee hurried over to retrieve them. He didn't feel very good. His knees felt weak and his head was swirling making him feel like he could faint. Amanda suddenly noticed how white he looked.

"Lee, can you come sit with Lorraine? All you need to do is to hold her hand and encourage her. She will probably squeeze your hand pretty hard though so just be forewarned."

Lee rushed to Lorraine's side. He was so grateful that Amanda was giving him a task he might be able to handle. He grasped Lorraine's hand and began telling her how great she was doing.

"Good, now the two of you just focus on each other and I'll do the hard stuff," Amanda suggested hoping to keep Lee from fainting while keeping Lorraine's mind diverted from all the pain she was feeling.

"Your baby is so close to coming out. I think if you really concentrate on pushing hard during your next contraction, she just might pop right out. Let's try, okay Lorraine?"

"I'll try," Lorraine promised in a weak voice.

The only thing Lee knew about giving birth were the things he had seen on tv or in the movies. The one thing they always talked about was for the mom to do her breathing. "Lorraine, focus on your breathing. I think it is supposed to help with the pain or something," he suggested as she gripped his hand tighter. He used a nearby towel to wipe some of the sweat off her face and chest.

Lorraine nodded and began focusing on her breathing. A few minutes later, another contraction began and Amanda excitedly said; "now Lorraine, push with all you have. Push!"

"Come on, you can do it," Lee took over as cheerleader. "She's almost here. You got this Lorraine." Lee couldn't resist taking a quick look over at what Amanda was doing. The baby's head was out now and she was clearing away all of the mucus so the baby could breathe. He couldn't help but admire her even in this role. She was truly an amazing woman. Sometimes he wondered if there was anything she couldn't do. Even when she was scared, she always seemed to find a way to conquer her fears and continue on.

The contraction had ended so Lee took the time to reach into the cooler lying just within his reach. He was thankful to see that the ice had been in it long enough to have partially melted. He soaked the towel in the ice cold water and then wringed out the access. He used the towel to place on top of Lorraine's head in hopes of helping her flushed face. He had barely finished when the next contraction began.

"Push!" Lee and Amanda said at the same time. Lorraine pushed and the baby slowly slid the rest of the way out. As Amanda began cleaning her up, the little girl let out a loud healthy wail. That was when Lee realized that Kevin had not made it back yet. He had missed the amazing birth of his own child. As Lee had adjusted to the situation, he realized how childbirth was truly a miracle and he was overwhelmed with the emotions of watching this little baby come into the world. He also realized that if he ever did have a baby, he would do everything in his power to be there for the birth.

He watched as Amanda wrapped the baby in a beach towel and placed her on Lorraine's chest. At that moment, all of the memory of the childbirth pain melted as Lorraine gazed down at her newborn baby daughter.

Amanda stepped back to give them both space. She took a spot next to Lee while they watched the new mom bond with her baby. Without even realizing she was doing it, she slowly leaned against his chest. Lee noticed though and found himself enjoying the closeness of sharing this special moment with her.

Suddenly Kevin burst into the campsite followed closely by Rodney and Harold.

"Oh man, I knew you wouldn't wait until you were out of the park," Harold whined. Then he smiled and said, "We will have to use a picture of the baby on the advertising brochure next summer."

Lee and Amanda quickly exchanged confused faces. Was it possible that Harold seemed almost accepting of the child being born there?

Rodney jumped in and offered, "Harold and I have just had a long talk about what has been going in _his_ park. I think he might be considering making some changes now that he knows the truth."

"Hey guys, can we talk about that later? I would like my husband to meet his daughter!" Lorraine yelled out. Kevin turned beat red as he rushed to her side and began caressing his daughter's face. "The ambulance is on the way," he told Lorraine as he gently kissed his wife's face. "She's beautiful. Does she have all her fingers and toes?" he asked anxiously.

"I didn't count them, but does it matter?" Lorraine asked him.

"No, she is perfect!" Kevin proclaimed.

Rodney headed back to the office to meet the EMT's so he could guide them back to the campsite. Meanwhile, the rest began talking about Harold's plans for next season.

"I realize that I haven't done the park any favors. It is a beautiful park and more people should enjoy it. I also have decided that it is time to allow the caves to become an attraction. I want it to be controlled though. I would like it to be separate from the park itself since it would draw a different type of crowd of people. I'm hoping to have some people with knowledge of that history to head that up," Harold said as he looked at Kevin and Lorraine. "Would you be willing to help me out? I know you have jobs so you couldn't be here all the time, but maybe you could help organize it. I would love your help and enthusiasm. I think that between the three of us, we could put this place on the map. What do you say?" Harold asked.

Kevin and Lorraine looked at each other for a few seconds without talking and then Kevin said, "We would love to! If we can create something profitable enough so that we could afford to quit our jobs, we would move here. This place is amazing and we didn't even see everything during our stay so it would give us more time to research further. Thank you for asking Harold!"

"That's great Harold," Amanda gushed. "I'm glad you plan to make this experience into a positive one. My family and I will definitely return one day and visit again!"

"Hey maybe you and Lee can have your honeymoon here," Kevin suggested.

"Maybe," Lee answered with a wink at Amanda. She couldn't help but smile as she played along.

Rodney and the EMT's rushed into camp. Soon there was all kinds of activity as they checked both Lorraine and the baby over to make sure they were both okay. After loading them onto a stretcher, they began to wheel it out of camp. She had them stop so she could say her goodbyes to Amanda and Lee.

"It was really fun meeting you both. Someday you will have to tell us the entire story of what happened here this week. Thank you so much for helping me bring this beautiful life into the world. I will never forget you. Someday she will have a name and I will make sure she knows the story about you both," Lorraine said as Amanda gave her a kiss on the cheek and Lee followed suit on her opposite cheek. They both then kissed the baby and stepped back so they could be on their way to the hospital. Kevin had watched the whole exchange and quietly said, "She has a name."

Lorraine's head shot up off the stretcher to look her husband in the eyes. "She does? Are you going to share it?"

"I think it worked out just like I said. I told you that the situation would help us pick out the name. I don't think there is any other name that makes more sense," Kevin declared.

"What name?" Lorraine insisted to know.

"Her name is Mandy Lee," Kevin said with a smile.

 **TBC**


	38. Chapter 38 - One Perfect Night

**Chapter Thirty-Seven** – **One Perfect Night**

"Oh my gosh!" Amanda exclaimed after Kevin announced the name.

"Is that okay with both of you? I mean, you brought her into this world. Plus, it looks like we might be starting a whole new life here and none of that would have been possible without all you did here. I thought it just seemed perfect. Do you like it?" Kevin asked his wife.

"Yes! I think it is perfect also as long as Amanda and Lee are in agreeance," Lorraine nodded her approval.

Lee and Amanda exchanged a brief glance and then Lee expressed what both of them were feeling. "It would be truly an honor to have your daughter named after us."

"Great, then it's settled. Welcome to the world Mandy Lee," Kevin announced as he gently picked up his daughter and held her up to see around her. He then cuddled her for a few seconds before letting Lorraine have her back. Lee and Amanda watched as the stretcher headed down the trail.

"I think they are both going to make great parents," Amanda said in her raspy voice which was full of emotions.

They suddenly remembered the food they had dumped on the trail and asked Rodney and Harold if they wanted to join them for dinner. They both had plans so they had to turn down the offer. Harold agreed to take the extra two steaks back to his freezer in the office so they wouldn't go to waste. Thankfully their bear friends had not found the food and it was still where they had left it.

They parted ways with Harold and Rodney. They walked slowly back to their campsite. They were both looking forward to just enjoying a peaceful night under the stars for a change. It had been a stressful time and they deserved one perfect night.

After enjoying the delicious steaks, Lee suggested they go for a swim. It would likely be one of the last times they would be alone before they headed home, and he wanted to enjoy it. It seemed like they had grown even closer during the past few weeks. It had been encouraging to know that they could face such a tragedy and still find and give comfort to each other. In most cases, people who are close, tend to take their frustrations out on each other. Instead, they had drawn strength from each other.

His thoughts returned to Billy as he waited for Amanda to change into her suit. Why didn't Billy let them in on what he was doing? He knew he could have trusted them. If they had known, they might have been able to stop him from being hurt. At least he would have had backup that night. Perhaps, it was also a warning to Lee to be more careful himself. He rarely wore a bullet proof vest even when things were considered dangerous. He never cared before because it seemed that no one would miss him if he was gone. Those days were gone though, and he now realized that people would care. In fact some people would likely be heartbroken just like they were with Billy. It was time for him to work on his stubbornness.

Amanda emerged and it took his breath away. She had put her hair into a ponytail and removed her makeup, but she was just as stunning as if she was dressed as a princess.

"Shall we go?" He asked as he offered his hand to her. She smiled and accepted it as they strolled to the lake together. Lee had changed so much since she first met him. Some days she felt like they were really becoming close, like now. Other times, he still seemed conflicted and would push her away. It was okay though. When talking about love, you had to be patient. She had been patient this long, she wasn't ready to quit now.

After their swim, they laid on their backs beside each other looking at the stars. It was nice to see them without the glare of city lights. They pointed out the constellations they knew. The talk turned to the Underground Railroad and how the stars had helped guide so many slaves to freedom. Neither of them could fathom being a runaway slave as they worried about being caught as they trusted strangers to get them to safety. It was such a dark time in America's history. They both expressed how happy they were that the park would help share some of that history and keep those memories alive. It was important so that history wouldn't repeat itself.

They both agreed that they would have to come back and visit after Kevin and Lorraine established the tourist attraction. After all, they would need to visit their namesake to see how she was doing.

They talked for so long that they accidentally fell asleep on the beach together. Early in the morning, Lee awoke and realized what had happened. He carefully scooped Amanda up into his arms to carry her back to their campsite. She didn't awaken, but instead snuggled closer to his chest. Lee found that he was taking his time walking back. Once he got to the tent, he struggled to let her go. He finally gently laid her down, and then went to take a cold shower. When he returned she was still asleep. He smiled as he sat watching her. She had turned his whole world upside down and he didn't mind.

Realizing that William would be there soon, Lee forced himself to lie down and get some rest. A good agent needed their rest.

 **TBC**


	39. Chapter 39 - Please Tell Me Why

**Chapter Thirty-Eight** – **Please Tell me Why?**

Amanda awoke before Lee. She sat up and then enjoyed watching him while he slept. As she sat there in the solitude, it suddenly occurred to her that she didn't remember walking back to their campsite. How did she get there? She smiled as she vaguely remembered being picked up while she slept. He had carried her. He could have woke her up and helped her walk back, but instead by using the stars and the moon, he had chosen to carry her. Every time she thought he couldn't surprise her more, he found a way to do so. He began to stir so Amanda quickly got up to prepare to shower. William would be arriving soon so she wanted to be ready.

Lee woke up when he felt Amanda sit up. He could tell that she was watching him. He also knew that she must have just realized that he had carried her back to the camp. He waited for her to gather her things and head for the shower before he got up. Since he had just taken a shower, he decided to just get dressed. He had just finished repacking his bags when he heard someone yell out, "hello? Anyone here?"

Lee walked out from the tent to greet a man around Billy's age. "I recognize you from the picture Billy once showed me. Hi, Lee. I'm William. Did I wake you?"

"No, we are both awake. Amanda went to shower. She should be back shortly. Oh, did you bring coffee?" Lee asked as he noticed that William was carrying a tray with three Styrofoam cups in it.

"Yeah, I met Harold at the office and had a nice chat with him. He told me how you both liked your coffee and asked me to bring you each a cup." Lee couldn't get over the change in Harold. He had a feeling that the park was going to do fantastic under his guidance now.

Amanda returned at that moment. She saw William and walked up to greet him. "Hello William," she said in her raspy voice. "It is so good to be able to put a face to the voice."

"Harold sent him with coffee for us," Lee explained as he handed her a cup. She gave him a knowing smile. Amanda always found the good, if there was any, in everyone.

They all sat down at the picnic table to enjoy their coffee while getting to know each other better. They chatted about Amanda's family for awhile. Lee didn't really have anything to share but he listened as William told them more about his family. His wife had always spoiled Marcia since he was always so busy at work. Of course, he regretted that he never put his foot down about it all those years.

"Don't worry sir. I think she'll come around. She's not a bad person. After all, she was quite taken with Lee," Amanda giggled.

Lee glared at her but William joined in. "Come on Lee, she's young enough to be your daughter. Surely, you didn't take her seriously?" William teased.

"Of course not. I was just afraid of hurting her, sir," Lee explained. William and Amanda exchanged glances and Amanda shook her head every so slightly. William understood and nodded. Lee's ego was at risk because he had no idea he was being played by Marcia. It was time to drop this conversation.

"I got the tickets for you both. You leave this afternoon on a plane. I'll bet that makes you happy," William said as he handed the tickets to Lee. "I'm sorry I made you take the train but I needed to delay your progress so that it gave Louie time to feel confident that he was untouchable. I also thought it would make it more intriguing to you both to have the map dropped in your lap. I gotta say that you both lived up to the reputations that I have listened to from Billy all this time. Neither of you were willing to give up until you had your man."

"Or men in this case," Amanda reminded him.

"Yes, we were beginning to be convinced that we had somehow morphed into a Scooby-Doo mystery. I was about ready to start calling Amanda Velma," Lee teased.

"Well I guess you would make an interesting Fred," Amanda teased back.

"Thank you for not saying I was Shaggy," Lee said gratefully.

William watched the teasing between them and knew that Billy had hit onto something special. It definitely proved that Billy had truly good instincts in this business.

Turning serious, Lee looked at William and asked, "Can you clear something up for me?"

"I can try," William offered.

"Well since our conversation yesterday, it has bugged me that Billy didn't trust us enough to enlist our help. He knows that we would have wanted to be his backup at least. Maybe, we could have taken out the man who did this before he shot Billy. Also, did you catch that man?"

William sobered as he answered, "We did catch the man. Unfortunately, he was dead in a downtown dumpster. He still had Billy's hat. He had stolen it the night he shot him. I guess he thought it was a great souvenir."

"That must be why I found it at Randy's. He must have been there and dropped it," Lee said as he filled them both on the day he found Billy's hat on the floor. William nodded his head and confirmed that Randy's surveillance cameras had shown that he went there often.

"As for Billy not trusting you, he did. I found out later that a nephew of his had died of a heroin overdose a short time before we met at the park. Billy didn't know for sure if it was connected, but he was still angry about it. I think it became a personal thing for him to bust this drug ring. He soon began using the excuse of keeping Amanda safe. At one point, I called him out on that and he nearly took my head off. He had told me many times what a great team both of you made and how you watched each other's backs. I know it had nothing to do with trusting you. You have to remember also that he pushed his way into the case. He wasn't supposed to be involved but since some of it was happening in his territory, it gave him a right to insist on being involved. He would have had to fight the superiors to bring you both into it too. I wouldn't be too hard on him. He has the utmost respect and admiration for both of you His face was beaming yesterday when I filled him in on everything that had happened," William explained.

Amanda put her hand on Lee's arm and calmly said, "Lee, there have been many times that you have insisted that I shouldn't be involved because it wasn't safe. Maybe we should give Billy a pass on this one, don't you think? He's gone through a lot."

Lee started to argue with her but then glanced at her face which was full of determination. Her request had not been open for discussion. He sighed and said, "Okay, yeah, you are right. He has gone through enough already."

"Well, I have to get to the police department so I can start wrapping all of this up. I think you two have a plane to catch," William said with a glint in his eyes. They all stood up and Amanda gave William a hug. Lee and William shook hands as William told them that Billy had been moved home. Jeannie had not been told anything until after the funeral. They were concerned that if she knew he was alive, she wouldn't look devastated enough at the service. Being married to Billy all these years, she understood though it still had been hard on her. "After we told her, she had pretended to be in mourning. It made the perfect excuse to refuse to see anyone. That also allowed her the ability to spend most of her time with Billy while he was in his coma. She's another amazing woman My wife could learn a lot from her," William said with a chuckle.

It was getting late, so they said their goodbyes and William headed off down the trail. Lee had a feeling that one day their paths would cross again.

 **TBC**


	40. Chapter 40 - Home Sweet Home

**Chapter Forty** – **Home Sweet Home**

Harold had graciously offered them a ride to the airport. Along the way, he thanked them for all they had done He felt like a fool for trusting Louie. He also was shocked that so much had been done illegally right under his nose in the park. He felt they should know that he had visited Willy the day before. It had been nice to clear the air with him. Willy apologized for trying to steal the estate from him. Harold told him that he understood why he did it. He had been selfish to keep it from Willy. After all, he didn't want it. He had never wanted it. He gladly signed the deed over to him. The two of them had hugged and promised to spend more time with each other. It looked promising that there would be a happy ending between them.

Harold also told them that Rodney had stopped in that morning to update the case. The three laborers had agreed to testify against everyone with the promise of a lighter sentence for themselves. Since they were far from the masterminds, the state had agreed and was moving forward with the trial. With their testimony, the others would likely face life in prison. It was a relief to know that everyone wouldn't have to face a long jury trial.

After Harold dropped them at the airport, they boarded the plane and were thrilled to be on the way home. They were both bone tired and soon fell asleep on the plane. The speaker announcing their arrival in DC woke them up. Lee helped Amanda off the plane and they headed to pick up their luggage. Francine met them at the baggage claim.

"Can you believe Billy is alive?" She gushed. "I went to see him today. He looks great!"

"Do you think he is up to company now, Francine?" Amanda asked. Even though they were tired, they couldn't wait to see him for themselves.

"I know that he told me to pick you up at the airport and bring you immediately to his house," she answered with a huge smile. They all hurried to claim the luggage and then rushed out to Francine's car. Francine told them that she would wait in the car so the two of them could have some private time with him.

Amanda knocked on the door and it was opened almost immediately by Jeannie. She began crying when she saw both of them. Amanda gave her a hug and whispered into her ear, "We are so happy he's still here." Jeannie squeezed Amanda's hand in appreciation and led them into the family room. Billy was lying in a hospital bed watching a game show on tv. His face was swollen and it looked like he had lost quite a bit of weight. Jeannie interrupted the tv show by announcing their arrival. Billy's whole body posture changed. He tried to act like he was fine and just resting.

"Cut the bull, Billy," Lee chastised him. "You have earned the right to look weak. We expect you back at the office in two weeks though," Lee teased him.

"Lee, Amanda, it is so good to see you both," Billy said excitedly with a huge smile on his face. Amanda rushed over to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Sir, it is so good to see you alive," her raspy voice couldn't disguise the emotions she was feeling.

"It is good to be alive. Okay, go ahead," Billy urged. "Get it over with."

"Sir? What are you talking about?" Amanda asked confused.

"He's talking about the tongue lashing he's expecting for not letting us know what was happening. He's also expecting us to be mad because he didn't let us help him," Lee's voice became emotional as he confirmed Billy's thoughts.

Amanda immediately projected a glare in Lee's direction which he noticed immediately.

"Of course, we aren't going to do any such thing. After all, Billy is the boss and if he chooses not to let us help him and he ends up getting himself killed because of it, that's his right!" Lee continued with a glare back at Amanda. He had known Billy a lot longer than Amanda. The one thing he was sure of was that in order for Billy to move on, he needed Lee to at least chastise him.

"I deserved that. I'm sorry. This case was a little too close to home after losing Brandon to heroin. I'm afraid I let it get personal. I was thinking about reporting my behavior to Dr. Smyth so he could review the file," Billy confessed.

"You will do no such thing!" Amanda exclaimed. "Lee and I have already talked about this. We hope you realize that we are a team and you can always come to us in the future. Right now, we are so thankful you are going to be okay. That is all that matters. You need to rest, listen to your wife and get better, sir!" Amanda scolded him like one of her children.

"And Amanda has spoken," Lee teased. "She's like the wizard in Oz. She is very powerful stuff. I wouldn't mess with her if I was you," Lee winked at Billy.

Billy started to laugh but it hurt too badly. He gestured for them to take a seat and keep him company for awhile. They shared their adventure with him. As they were drawing to a close, they could tell he was very tired. They told him that they would leave him to get some rest, but would be back each day to visit with him. He thanked them for their kindness and understanding. As they were leaving, he called them back.

"I just want to apologize for my behavior with you both while I was undercover. I was very short tempered and tired since I was working so much. I know I took it out on both of you and Francine too. I will make it up to you somehow," Billy insisted.

"Just get well, Sir," Amanda told him affectionately.

"I'll second that," Lee agreed.

They said their goodbyes and then went out to talk to Jeannie. She told them that she was doing okay and that she was thankful to have him home. They both gave her a hug and promised to be back the next day.

As they got into the car, Francine said, "Doesn't he look great? I mean, I know he's weak but he's alive! That's all that matters."

They all agreed and realized that they were all feeling the same exhilaration. It had taken heartbreak for Amanda to find a common ground with Francine. Billy Melrose was definitely that common ground. Francine drove them both to their homes with no complaints. They all knew that once Billy was back, she would become her feisty, sarcastic self again. For now, they needed each other and they needed Billy. After all, when a family member was in trouble, the rest would work together until the danger was gone. Then the drama and bickering could begin again. William had called them a family. They truly were.

 **TBC**


	41. Chapter 41 - The Gift

**Chapter Forty- One – The Gift**

Amanda was happy to be home. She had really missed her family. The boys couldn't wait to tell her all the exciting things they had done in her absence. Dotty seemed a little hurt that Amanda had only contacted her once during the whole time she was gone. She explained that the production company had sent them off to a place in Wisconsin to film a documentary about the Underground Railroad. She felt a little less like it was lying by using that topic. She continued by telling her mother that the areas were remote and didn't have phones. In the end, Dotty accept the explanation and let the subject drop.

Amanda offered to take everyone to the local state park. It seemed important now to support it. They enjoyed a leisurely 2 mile hike. When they returned to the car, Amanda treated everyone to ice cream.

The rest of the day they spent inside since it had begun to rain. They pulled out their favorite board games and started a friendly competition. Dotty made a pot roast for dinner to celebrate Amanda's return. Amanda insisted on doing the dishes and shooed them all in to watch tv. As she was finishing drying the last dish, she heard a knock on the back door. She hurried to meet Lee. As she opened the door, she motioned for him to go where they would be protected from the rain.

"Hi," He smiled and his dimples appeared.

"Hi yourself," Amanda said while wondering what he was up to. She could tell by the glint in his eye that he had a purpose in being there.

"While you were using the restroom today at the airport, I took a walk through the gift shop. I thought it might be nice to buy you something to remind you of this case. I walked around for a bit before I saw them. As soon as I spotted them, I knew they would go well with your collection," Lee's smile had started to grow bigger. Amanda knew that whatever he had bought for her was likely a joke gift.

"Lee Stetson, what are you up to?" Amanda demanded to know.

Lee could barely contain himself by this time. He handed her a brightly wrapped package and suggested she open it.

Amanda wasn't sure if something was going to jump out at her or what. She slowly unwrapped the package to uncover a box. As she opened up the flap, she couldn't tell what it was so she tipped the box upside down onto the patio table. The contents slid out. It took her a moment to realize what they were, and then she began to giggle. She had told Lee the story long ago. She never expected him to remember it. Lee was laughing hysterically by this time. He finally managed to catch his breath and asked, "Do you like them Amanda. I had them engraved to mark the occasion."

Amanda picked them up and found that he was telling the truth. The engraving was hard to find unless you knew to look for it. It simply said, "A star led the way, but it was the train that got them there." The gift would have been sweet had it not had a double meaning. She wondered how in the world she was going to explain to her mother why she felt that she needed to buy a pair of train bookends for souvenirs. "Lee Stetson!" She pretended to scold him. It only made him laugh harder. The laugh was contagious and Amanda soon was laughing just as hard.

Thus ends another adventure. Until the next time…..

SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK

Author's notes:

I just want to take a moment to thank Raizel Sands for all the encouragement, support, and late nights that she offered through my writing of this story. Even though I did not always take her suggestions on wording things differently, her thoughts usually convinced me that I needed to rewrite an idea. It was good to have someone help me make sure I didn't forget any holes and to question things that didn't make sense so I could fix them as I went along. Many of her ideas were spot on and helped make the story even better. She also was invaluable with helping me put commas where they belonged and catching my stupid typos.

I hope you enjoyed the story. Wisconsin Dells really does have a Mirror Lake State Park. The train really will take you out there and it really does take 26 hours to from DC to there. A lot of what I wrote about the park is also true but I doubt there are caves. The state is well known for the Underground Station that I mentioned so it is always possible that it passed through that area too, but it is likely just in my imagination. Whenever possible, I did use things that really existed. The Underground Railroad has always fascinated me so I thought this might be a fun story to write.

Thank you to all who read this story and for any reviews you have or might post. I did find some small typos as I reread it before posting it here so I fixed those along the way. The original Fanzine of course will still have them.

One final thing. I began writing this story in the middle of April. During that time, my beloved, best friend Canuck (my heart dog) began to have some health issues. She had fought one thing after another for 11 years and I was sure she would beat this too. Unfortunately it was not to be and she went downhill fast. It turned out she had cancer. On May 11th, I had to let her go to the bridge. She was nearly my whole world. I had to stop writing at that point as I struggled to deal with her being gone. I knew she would want me to finish this though. This story is dedicated to my sweet girl, Canuck. She was around 15 years of age and lived in a shelter with her brother in PA for the first 3 years of her life. The day I went to meet them both, she looked at me with nothing but love in her eyes as if to say "You are the one. You are the one I have waited for all my life." She never stopped looking at me like that.


End file.
